Members of the Ondo State House of Assembly have called on Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu to come to their aid in renovating the assembly complex to enable them carry out their legislative duties without hindrances.
Recall that there was a report on the disruption of plenary last Wednesday as a result of a snake which found its way into the complex, thereby making the lawmakers to scamper for safety.
Speaking on the development, Chairman of House Committee on Information, Hon. Gbenga Omole, described the presence of the snakes as embarrassing, saying the development was a threat to the lawmakers’ legislative duties.
According to him, the most embarrassing situation was when the House reconvened to deliberate on some legislative business and the ceiling of the House caved in, dropping on the table of the Speaker of House of Assembly, Oleyelogun.
Omole, however, said the House had to adjourn sitting indefinitely over the infrastructural decay in the Chamber and some parts of the House of Assembly Complex.
He said: “We were about to enter into plenary on Wednesday when a big snake just ran out of the chamber which disrupted our sitting and we had to hurriedly leave the chamber.
“We were about to sit again yesterday when a ceiling caved in directly where Mr. Speaker was sitting, the whole House was agitated and when we looked around, we saw the damage that termites had done to most of the wood work in the chamber.
“At that point, we had to call ourselves and adjourned the sitting because we discovered that the chamber was no longer good for legislative business and because of this, we decided to adjourn indefinitely. The House will be going on an indefinite recess.”
Omole disclosed that the House had written to Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, to inform him about the development and the need to renovate the whole complex, saying the House of Assembly complex had been turned into abode for reptiles and rodents.
“We eventually killed the snake, but there are lots of reptiles hibernating in the roof of the chamber, and whenever it rains, the whole chamber is flooded.
“We need to intimate the state governor about this development and we have decided to meet him on this. Mr. Governor is aware of part of the infrastructural decay here because most of the things here are outdated and not too good for legislative business,” he said.
The chairman said the House was relying on the governor for the renovation of the complex because “as at now, the House has not been given the (financial) autonomy we are agitating for, because if it had been approved, we don’t need to consult the governor. You know how things are being run presently; every arm of government needs to look up to the executive to get things done.”
He added: “But pending the approval of the legislative autonomy, we have to look towards the executive where Mr. Governor is in charge and we will have to appeal to him to come to our aid because we have a lot of business to do and there are lots of bills to be treated.”
YOMI AYELESO, Akure
