By Adekola Afolabi
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Sixteen members of the Ondo State House of Assembly who were alleged to have appended their signatures on a petition to the Debt Management Office (DMO) requesting it to decline any loan request from the Ondo State Government have vehemently denied doing so.

A copy of the petition to the DMO which was read on the floor of the House by the Speaker, Mr Bamidele Oleyelogun, during the plenary sitting yesterday,  indicated that a lawmaker representing Akure North State constituency, Olamide George allegedly led other 15 members to write the letter and forwarded same to the DMO on behalf of the Assembly.

To this end, the Assembly has set up a 5-man Ad-hoc Committee led by Jamiu Maito to investigate the petition which all the lawmakers unanimously described as inimical to the peace and development of the state.

The Speaker of the House, Bamidele Oleyelogun who gave the committee three weeks to submit its report, equally charged it to recommend appropriate sanctions against the culprit.

Oleyelogun called on members to desist from any action capable of bringing the name of the Assembly to disrepute, noting that members should always protect the sanctity of the hallowed chambers.

Earlier, reacting to the petition, the lawmakers whose names and signatures appeared on the petition, one after the other, distanced themselves from the signing the letter, arguing that they were not party to it and that they did not see any reason why Ondo state government should not access loans to bring about development to the State.

The legislators including the House Majority Leader, Olugbenga Araoyinbo, deputy majority leader, Olusegun Ajimotokin, ex-deputy speaker, Samuel Arowele, former Majority Leader, Olugbenga Akinsoyinu, ex-deputy speaker, Fatai Olotu, Tuyi Akintimehin, Musa Mukaila, Feyide Olusola, among others distanced themselves from the petition, saying that no government can achieve much without borrowing.

They argued that no government can run well without borrowing either locally or internationally, stressing that there was no where the  said 16 lawmakers sat, met and passed a resolution calling on DMO not to grant any loan request from the state government.

The deputy majority leader, Olusegun Ajimotokin thereafter moved a motion that a resolution should be made to completely dissociate the House from the purported letter written by Olamide George. The motion was seconded by Olugbenga Akinsoyinnu.

The Speaker, Mr Bamidele Oleyelogun therefore ruled that the DMO should continue to do business with Ondo state government contrary to the purported petition.

Similarly, the hallowed chambers received two petitions against Mr Olamide George. The petitions which were said to have been written by the Athletic Federation of Nigeria and the Ondo State Patriotic Front (OSPF) were read on the floor of the House by the Clerk, Mr Bode Adeyelu.

Meanwhile, the House has announced three weeks break starting from today Friday to January 11, 2019.