Again yesterday, the Ogun State House of Assembly members abruptly halted their meeting when the Assembly Mace vanished.
When the House was due to hold its plenary session at the Assembly premises yesterday, the Mace, the staff of authority used by the state's legislative branch, was allegedly seized to thwart the members' efforts to impeach the embattled Speaker, Olakunle Oluomo.
But since the Speaker's arrest last Thursday, when the legislators' meeting went horribly wrong, the Assembly has missed three meetings in a row.
Oluomo was detained by agents of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on suspicion of claims of corruption, forgery, and financial irregularity. Oluomo is currently on trial in a Federal High Court in Lagos.
The Ogun State Assembly's mace, which is led by Oluomo, has gone lost twice; the first time was in December 2020, but it was later found by the Lagos Police Command in the Lagos State district of Abule Ado.
Security personnel were still requesting that journalists seek clearance from the Head of the Assembly's media, who would not return his calls, as of yesterday at 2 p.m. when newsmen visited the Assembly compound.
According to a source close to the Assembly who requested anonymity and told newsmen that the Mace had vanished from the complex, the lawmakers—especially Mr. Akeem Balogun, the Assembly's Deputy Speaker, who is tasked by statute with running the Assembly's business—were not allowed to preside over the day's proceedings, which included the impeachment of the Speaker.
The sources further mentioned that 16 legislators have already signed on in favour of trying to remove the Speaker, who is under fire.
However, several politicians who were reported to be Oluomo's allies allegedly plotted to have the drill cancelled and relocated the Mace away.