Governor Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa is today, Friday, August 21, 2026, expected to meet members of the Ondo State House of Assembly at the Presidential Meeting Hall inside the Ondo State Government House by 5 p.m., amid growing controversy over allegations against the Speaker of the Assembly, Olamide Oladiji.

The meeting is reportedly the third time the governor is bringing the lawmakers together over the crisis, which has already generated questions about the independence of the legislature and the circumstances surrounding the allegations against the Speaker.

At the centre of the controversy is an allegation that the Speaker facilitated or authorised a purported resolution of the House relating to the reordering of the 2025 OSOPADEC budget.

The issue has become more complicated because, according to information available to this reporter, OSOPADEC has not presented its 2025 budget to the Ondo State House of Assembly.

More significantly, the budget was allegedly never presented before the House Committee on Budget, chaired by Honourable Allen Oluwatoyin, with Honourable Princess Olawunmi Fayemi serving as Vice Chairman. If this is established, it raises a fundamental question about how a budget could have been reordered without passing through the relevant legislative committee.

The allegation is that the Speaker and possibly the governor may have been involved in the process of reordering the OSOPADEC budget without the knowledge or approval of the wider Assembly. That allegation has not been independently established, and both the Speaker and the governor are entitled to respond.

In the course of this investigation, this reporter has obtained a copy of the document said to be the resolution of the Ondo State House of Assembly authorising the reordering of the OSOPADEC 2025 budget. The document is being described as allegedly forged, and its authenticity and the circumstances surrounding its preparation are now central to the controversy.

The critical question is whether the document genuinely reflects a resolution validly passed by the Assembly. If it does not, who prepared it, who authorised its use and how did a purported legislative resolution come to be relied upon in the controversial budget process?

There are also allegations that the OSOPADEC budget may have been processed without the knowledge of key members of the Assembly, including those responsible for scrutinising budgetary proposals. If confirmed, such a development would raise serious questions about compliance with legislative procedures and the constitutional role of the Assembly in the appropriation process.

The matter is further complicated by the controversy surrounding N44 million in public funds. Questions have been raised about who approved the money, how it was released, where it went and whether the appropriate legislative and financial procedures were followed.

There are also unverified allegations that OSOPADEC may have offered financial inducements of N44 million to some lawmakers in connection with the controversy, including the Speaker, Olamide Oladiji; the Deputy Speaker, Ololade Gbegudu; and former Majority Leader, Honourable Oluwole Ogunmolasuyi.

At this stage, there is no publicly established evidence proving that any of the three lawmakers received a bribe from OSOPADEC. The allegation should therefore be treated strictly as an allegation requiring investigation and evidence.

However, if such an allegation were established, it would significantly deepen the crisis and raise questions about whether the alleged financial inducements were connected to the purported budget reordering or the efforts to prevent legislative action against the Speaker.

Against this background, the governor’s decision to convene another meeting with the lawmakers has attracted significant attention.

Why is Governor Aiyedatiwa repeatedly intervening in a matter involving allegations that could lead to the impeachment of the Speaker?

Is the governor’s intervention aimed at preventing a breakdown between the executive and legislative arms of government, or is he trying to prevent the removal of the Speaker?

And if the allegations against the Speaker are unfounded, why not allow the Assembly or another competent authority to independently investigate the disputed resolution, the OSOPADEC budget process and the N44 million controversy?

The governor’s role has also come under scrutiny following allegations that the Speaker’s actions may have been carried out with his knowledge, support or backing. There is currently no independent confirmation of that allegation, and Governor Aiyedatiwa should be given an opportunity to explain his role.

But the circumstances raise a broader question: if the Speaker and the governor were able to allegedly reorder an OSOPADEC budget without the knowledge of other lawmakers, could similar actions have taken place in the past?

That question should not be answered through political speculation. It requires access to official Assembly records, OSOPADEC documents, financial records and other relevant evidence.

The silence of members of the Assembly has also become part of the controversy. If lawmakers initially believed that the allegations against the Speaker were serious enough to warrant impeachment proceedings, why has the process not been concluded?

Several ultimatums have reportedly elapsed, yet the public has not received a comprehensive explanation for the apparent slowdown.

The lawmakers have a responsibility to explain their position to the people they represent. If they believe the Speaker committed an impeachable offence, the public deserves to know why the process has stalled. If they no longer believe the allegations are sufficient to warrant impeachment, they should also explain why.

Today’s 5 p.m. meeting will therefore be closely watched. It could produce another political settlement, but any settlement should not make the underlying allegations disappear.

The people of Ondo State deserve answers to basic questions: Was the disputed resolution genuinely passed by the House? Was the OSOPADEC budget ever presented to the Assembly or considered by the House Committee on Budget? Was it lawfully reordered? What happened to the N44 million? Who authorised the process? Were any lawmakers financially induced? And what role, if any, did the governor play?

The answers should come from documents, official records and transparent investigation not political negotiation.

Governor Aiyedatiwa may succeed in bringing the lawmakers together again. He may even succeed in preventing the Speaker’s impeachment. But political reconciliation cannot, by itself, resolve questions surrounding public funds, legislative procedure and the integrity of an official Assembly document.

For now, the allegations remain allegations. The Speaker, the Deputy Speaker, the former Majority Leader, OSOPADEC and the governor all have the right to respond to the issues raised.

But the people of Ondo State also have the right to know what happened.

And as the governor meets the lawmakers behind closed doors this evening, one question will continue to hang over the meeting: is this an attempt to resolve the crisis, or another intervention to save the Speaker from impeachment?