The newly sworn in Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Olamide George, has said that the impeachment exercise carried out by 18 members of the assembly remains irreversible despite all efforts to intimidate them.

George stated this during a press conference in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, where he spoke on the crisis rocking the assembly.

The new Speaker who led 15 other members called on the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to take their petition seriously and take measures for the protection of lives and property against hoodlums to avoid chaos in the town.

The 18 lawmakers had on Friday, impeached Hon Bamidele Oloyelogun and Hon. Ogundeji Iroju, the Speaker and Deputy Speaker respectively.

Oloyelogun and Iroju were reportedly impeached over established evidence of gross misconduct, financial recklessness, abuse of power and incompetence levelled against them.

Hon. Olamide George and Hon. Faloju Abimbola were sworn-in as the new Speaker and deputy respectively.

The new Speaker said that the impeachment was an in-house exercise which has constitutional backing, saying it was not targeted at anyone.

George said that Oloyelogun and Iroju were not only impeached by 18 out of the 26 members of the assembly but also suspended.

He said that two other lawmakers who claimed that their signatures were forged are not saying the truth, having been induced with monetary benefits.

George called on President Muhammadu Buhari to wade into the matter towards restoring law and order back to the state as it could affect the party’s chances during the coming general election.

The Majority Leader, Olugbenga Araoyinbo, said that they would never allow themselves to be used or be appendages of the executive at the expense of the people.

He said that all they had done was a change of leadership within the assembly, adding that the former Speaker was not competent to lead them.

The conference was attended by eight other members, while five others are said to be presently receiving treatment at different hospitals.

•Sourced from a Channels TV report