OYO State House of Assembly is a lawmaking body in the state, and vested with the powers to check the excesses of the executive and other arms of government to ensure peace, order and good governance in the state, in respect to matters not in the exclusive legislative list, but in concurrent list. It could also legislate on other matters in which it is empowered by the Constitution to do so.
Similarly, it plays a representative function based on constituency arrangement for effective representation of the populace.
Each member therefore represents a section of the people in the state for avoidance of marginalization in the scheme of things.
And among other several functions, the House is further tasked with deliberative function and before any bill is passed into law, or a resolution taken on any matter, members must procedurally, engage in a careful and meticulous deliberation of all the facts therein, to arrive at definite and worthy decisions.
However, in addition to lawmaking, oversight and representation roles of these parliamentarians, they are also expected to perform constituency services, which sounds to be one of the most influential functions of a lawmaker.
In Oyo’s current 8th Assembly, there are some lawmakers who are perceived to have performed below the bar, while many others have completely gone into oblivion, by consistently remaining dormant during plenary sessions.
As the fight for political surviver draws nearer and halfway into the tenure of the 8th Assembly, interestingly, from 2015 to 2017, a total of seven (7) members of the current Assembly did not live up to expectations.
Mega Icon Magazine investigation reveals a dismay perform of these parliamentarians who are poised to contest future elections, judging from the in-depth of their debates and contributions in the house, standing committees as well as what impact they have made on the electorate whose mandate they hold in trust.
By popular demand, Mega Icon Magazine brings you the inactive lawmakers in Oyo’s Assembly.
Hon. Abiodun Wahab, popularly addressed as ‘Deen Abbey’ representing Oluyole State Constituency under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is one of the bench warmers in the House; he hasn’t done much to represent his constituents.
Many have termed him as a controversial candidate as those in the know claimed that the lawmaker is currently swimming in turbulence political water following a court case questioning his victory in the 2015 elections. He was also alleged to be part of the plot spare heading the impeachment of the Speaker, Hon. Michael Adeyemo so that he could secure the Deputy Speaker position.
Equally, Accord lawmakers , Hon. Oloya Ayinla representing Ibadan North East State Constituency I and his counterpart from Ibadan North East II, Hon. Adeoye Adeniyi were also caught in the web.
It seems second term members of the Assembly are there to relax, instead representing. These parliamentarians are one of those former legislatures who are benchwarmers in the Oyo State House of Assembly, not living up to the billing as lawmakers.
In a related development, Hon. Akinmoyede Olafioye who is also the Chief Whip of the House has served different governments in various capacities.
The APC lawmaker from Lagelu State Constituency, Olafioye, well known in the politics of Oyo State was the former council boss of Lagelu Local Government. The ex- Councilor also served as both acting and elected Council Chairman during Governor Adebayo Alao Akala’s regime and retained the position during Governor Abiola Ajimobi’s first term tenure before securing his present political post.
Despite his huge political experience, he’s also one of the benchwarmers in the House; it’s pretty bad from the ex – council chief.
To put up a list like this without mentioning Hon. Oladipo Abimbola (APC) and his colleague, Hon. Jimoh Akintunde (APC) is like trying to travel to Australia from Nigeria by foot. It is difficult for them to scale through this tangled web.
Hon. Abimbola represents the good people of Ibadan North West State Constituency and served during the previous 7th Assembly led by Senator Monsurat Sunmonu, who is currently representing Oyo Central Senatorial District.
In addition, Hon. Jimoh Akintunde of Ibarapa Central/North-State Constituency performance’s has not been quite that impressive.
Both were among the lawmakers shirking their responsibilities in the Oyo State House of Assembly. They are not performing well as expected.
At this juncture, it is imperative to state that political representation is the activity of making citizens’ voices, opinions, and perspectives “present” in public policy making processes.
Unfortunately, Hon. Oguntade Olasunkanmi, another Accord Party member representing Egbeda State Constituency has not been given his constituents a decent representation. Nothing much from the lawmaker, he’s one of those benchwarmers fond of not contributing during plenary session. It’s pretty hard to glean out information on the lawmaker.
