Aftermath of impeachment saga on Friday, majority of members of the Ondo state House of Assembly have boycotted several peace meetings called by Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu to reverse the removal of former speaker Bamidele Oleyelogun and his deputy Ogundeji Iroju.

Oleyelogun and Ogundeji, were impeached on Friday and Olamide George and Faloju Abimbola were immediately sworn-in as the new Speaker and deputy speaker respective.

A source at the Government House revealed that only seven of the 26 lawmakers attended one of the meetings convened by Akeredolu while 18 of them shunned the governor and the remaining one is currently outside the country.

It was gathered that the legislators boycotted the meetings because of their safety after members/leaders of NURTW attacked them with dangerous weapons after the impeachment on Friday.

Our correspondents also learnt that the 18 lawmakers who carried out the impeachment and installed new leadership had since relocated to Ibadan and they were not ready to negotiate with Akeredolu over the removal of Oleyelogun and Ogundeji.

The source said, “the picture took after the failed peace meeting showed that only seven lawmakers are on the side of Oleyelogun, you can see that seven of the were with Aketi in the picture, we also have two former speakers of the House (now appointees of Akeredolu, that is Taofeeq Abdulsalam and Oluwasegunota Bolarinwa)”.

“The governor had lost the control of the Assembly, the former speaker (Oleyelogun) was not in-charge, if not for the APC and Aketi, he would have been removed since, but I don’t think the impeachment would be reversed because some of the lawmakers are not returning to the House in 2019, they have nothing to lose”.

The source said the governor was rattled with the development as George’s led Assembly is clearly the majority infact with 2/3 required by the Constitution to take decision at the House.

Meanwhile, Rt. Hon. Olamide George, the newly elected Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to rescue him and his colleagues from alleged reign of terror in the state.

George, alongside 17 other lawmakers, made the call at a news conference held in Ibadan on Saturday evening.

George said that the former speaker and his deputy were impeached over established evidences of gross misconduct, financial recklessness, abuse of power and incompetence levelled against them.

He alleged that since Friday, family members, he and his deputy were being threatened over the impeachment, calling on the president to save democracy from collapse.

“We are duly elected members of the state assembly, acting within the confines of the constitutional duties at plenary.

“Surprisingly, the impeached speaker led to the assembly, Mr Gbenga Adeyanju, the State Commissioner of Police, Mr Ade Adetimehin, State APC Chairman, Mr Jacob Adebo, State Chairman, NURTW, about 50 heavily armed officers and thugs.

“They invaded the assembly and assaulted honourable members, Assembly staff, journalists and visitors to the assembly complex,”he said.

George said that there were video and pictorial documentations of the alleged vandalization of cars and properties worth several millions of naira by thugs under the supervision of Adeyanju.

According to him, “It is an open secret that N1.3bn was approved and released for the 2018 budget of the Assembly. The former speaker and deputy speaker jointly expended over a billion in the first quarter of 2018 without approval.

“This is the height of corruption. We cannot condone it. It is unacceptable to the people of Ondo State whom we are representing and that’s why we chose the path of honour to partner with Buhari to flush corruption out of Ondo,” he added.

Abimbola, the new deputy speaker, corroborated George’s claims and called on Inspector General of Police to immediately redeploy the commissioner of police from the state, accusing him of bias.

He said they are not safe with Adeyanju remaining the state commissioner of police. Adding that the impeachment was carried out in line with constitutional provision which stipulated that such exercise could only be carried out by two-third of the members.

He stated that 18 out of the 26 lawmakers, which represent two-third in of the Members carried out the impeachment, saying he has the 18 names and signatures of members who impeached them.

“The impeachment was in order. We have removed the inefficient speaker and deputy speaker from office and this act is completely irreversible,” he said.

A former speaker of the assembly, Olajumoke Akindele who was allegedly assaulted in the mayhem unleashed at the Assembly, called on the president and his wife, Hajia Aisha Buhari to protect women in politics from molestation, intimidation and harassment which was meted to her on Friday.

“My family members, my colleagues and my dear life is no longer safe. I have been marked for assassination for standing against corruption,” she said.

The trio equally appealed to Gov. Akeredolu to allow the legislative arm of government to function independently without interference.