Ondo constituents move to recall federal lawmaker, hire 30 lawyers

The people of Ondo East/Ondo West Federal Constituency in Ondo State have initiated the process to recall the lawmaker representing the federal constituency at the National Assembly, Abiola Makinde, over alleged abdication of his legislative duties.

According to the constituents, under the auspices of the Ekimogun Roundtable, Makinde had purportedly abandoned his legislative duties for several months and relocated abroad for unknown reasons.

In a statement issued by the group’s acting secretary, Ms Christiana Ayodele, on Monday, it was alleged that the National Assembly office of the lawmaker had been locked while the constituency had been left without representation in the lower chamber.

Ayodele revealed that over 30 legal practitioners across the country had volunteered to offer free legal services to challenge the lawmaker’s actions.

She stated, “In a massive show of solidarity with what they described as an audacious leadership and legislative accountability project embarked upon by the Ekimogun Roundtable aimed at strengthening the country’s struggling representative democracy, 30 legal practitioners from across the country and different spheres of the legal profession have indicated interest in offering free legal services to assist in its legislative inquiry and likely judicial processes.”

The Ekimogun Roundtable, a socioeconomic group of Ondo indigenes worldwide, alleged that Hon. Abiola Makinde, the House of Representatives member representing Ondo East/West Federal Constituency in the 10th National Assembly, had abdicated his legislative duties for months and relocated abroad, leaving his constituency office under lock and key, and rendering the constituency without representation during the legislative session.

The group further alleged a significant disparity between the constituency’s fund/project allotments on paper and the actual physical project execution, raising concerns about the integrity of those involved in the procurement process of constituency projects at the National Assembly.

“The Ondo East/West Federal Constituency has never experienced such poor legislative performance since the advent of democracy, with critical issues of national importance like the National Budget and the National Anthem Act being discussed in the hallowed chamber without input from the constituency,” the statement said.

The group added that it had written to the National Assembly requesting Makinde’s plenary attendance record to assess his compliance with relevant sections of the Nigerian Constitution and the House of Representatives Standing Rules on plenary attendance.

Attempts to reach the embattled federal lawmaker were unsuccessful, as he did not answer calls or respond to a text message sent to him at the time of filing this report.