Ogun House Of Assembly Suspends Sitting Indefinitely Over Speaker’s Arrest By Anti-graft Agency, EFCC

The arrest of the Speaker of the Ogun State House of Assembly, Olakunle Oluomo, on Thursday, has forced the legislature to suspend its plenary indefinitely.

Oluomo was to preside over Thursday’s sitting before his arrest by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Eaglesforesight earlier today reported that Oluomo was arrested Thursday morning at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos and taken to the office of the agency at Ikoyi, Lagos.

A source told Eaglesforesight that the Speaker had failed to honour invitations.

The embattled lawmaker has now been flown to Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.

In January 2022, EFCC invited Oluomo for questioning over alleged financial misappropriation, forgery and money laundering.

Eaglesforesight had reported that the EFCC had earlier in a letter dated December 9, 2021, with a reference No: CR:3000/EFCC/LS/CMU/OG1/VOL.3/165, asked Oluomo to report to its Lagos office but the Speaker had claimed he was working “on the 2022 budget presented by Governor Dapo Abiodun.”

He was reportedly arrested by men of the anti-graft agency on Thursday morning at the Murtala Muhammad Airport, Lagos, over allegations of corruption.

Sources noted that immediately the news of his arrest filtered in, the lawmakers suspended sitting.

The anti-graft agency had in June 2021 begun investigation of the assembly for alleged financial misappropriation.

The EFCC acting on a petition written against Oluomo, had written a letter to the Assembly, demanding information on all budget appropriations and allocations of the House from May 30, 2015 till date.

The petition may have emanated from the impeached Deputy Speaker, Dare Kadiri, who had accused Oluomo of shrouding the House financial records in secrecy.

The embattled former Deputy Speaker also accused Oluomo of forging his signature to withdraw up to N50million from the Assembly’s bank account.

Kadiri, who has been at loggerheads with the Speaker, was impeached as the Deputy Speaker over alleged gross misconduct in March 2021.

But in January, the assembly fought back by dragging the EFCC and Kadiri to court for allegedly battering the image of the House.

The Assembly accused Kadiri of leaking confidential information given to the EFCC to the media, using an alleged official of the agency.

In a suit marked FHC/AB/CS/7/2022 and dated, Friday, January 14, the legislature also accused the EFCC of “bias and conspiracy to impugn the House.”