The death of
Ondo State House of Assembly Speaker, Samuel Adesina
Ajayi, has created a platform for a fresh race in the state Assembly.
Although, many of his colleagues have declined to comment on his
death, it is hoped that the zoning formula in the state will be
maintained.
Since the Governor is from the Southern Senatorial District, while
his Deputy is from the North, automatically, the South should retain the
vacant seat of the Speaker.
Presently, three lawmakers from the South are supposedly fit for the position.
They are: Oyebo Aladetan.
Aladetan who is from Ilaje Constituency 1 is a second termer in the
Assembly. He is presently the Chairman, House Committee on Information.
He was former member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before he
defected to the ruling Labour Party.
Aladetan was part of the palace coup that put an end to the reign of
the PDP in the Ondo State House of Assembly. He was also one of the
lawmakers who did not attend the budget presentation in the Assembly
last year. He is one of the lawmakers that may be considered for the position of Mr. Speaker
Victor Akinwe
Victor Akinwe is from Odigbo Constituency 11. He is not also a green
horn as this is his second term in the Assembly. A former Deputy Speaker
of the Assembly. He may also be considered for the plum job.
Gbenga Edema:
He is a trained lawyer who is highly intelligent but a first timer. He is
from Ilaje Constituency 11.
Against all odds, the Governor may however ignore the political zoning
formula if he wishes, but the step is logical.
Despite all these, the influence of Governor Olusegun Mimiko on who
should emerge as the speaker of the State must not be put aside.
It would be recalled that in order for Mimiko to take over the
Assembly in 2010, the former Speaker, Taofik Abdulsalam was impeached,
leading to a mass defection of PDP lawmakers to the ruling Labour Party
(LP).
Therefore, Mimiko’s factor may prevent any of the name mentioned
above from getting the slot which favour them due to the senatorial zone
system, especially, if he finds out that none of them is loyal to him.
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