Ondo assembly’s ceiling caves in after snake chased legislators off plenary

There was pandemonium at Ondo State House of Assembly as the ceilings of
the chamber eventually caved in during plenary. It was a day after a snake
chased the lawmakers out of the building during Yoruba sitting.

According to a source within the house, the lawmakers had rushed out of
the chamber on Wednesday, leaving the reptile to escape.

Speaker of the house, Bamidele Oleyelogun, escaped injury by the
whiskers, as the collapsing ceiling landed very close to his seat after he
had run for dear life.

However, the complex built by the late Michael Ajasin, who governed the
state between 1979 and 1983, is a shadow of itself after many years without
renovation.

The dilapidated assembly complex was part of the agitations of the eighth
assembly members, who demanded its prompt renovation and financial
autonomy.

Rising from a session last year when lawmakers were visibly fanning
themselves, the deputy speaker, Ogundeji Iroju, decried the deplorable
state of the complex built over four decades ago.

Iroju, who is also the deputy speaker of the ninth assembly, had said,
“We also decry the deplorable condition of the entire House of Assembly
complex and appeal to the executive governor, who is also the custodian of
the state’s resources, to assist us.”

Chairman of the House Committee on Information, Gbenga Omole, recounted,
“Yesterday (Wednesday) when we were about to enter into plenary, a big
snake just ran out of the chamber, which disrupted our sitting and we had
to hurriedly leave the chamber.

“We are about to sit again today when a ceiling caved in directly where
Mr. Speaker was sitting. The whole house was agitated and when we looked
around, we saw the damage termites had done to most of the woodwork at the
chamber. At that point, we had to call ourselves and adjourned the sitting.”

Without mincing words, Omole stated, “That chamber is no longer good for
legislative business and because of that we decided to adjourn
indefinitely. The house will be going on an indefinite recess.

“We need to intimate the governor about this development and we have
decided to meet him on this. The governor is aware of part of the
infrastructure decay here.”