Ogun State governor, Ibikunle Amosun, on Wednesday, intervened and resolved the crisis which rocked the State House of Assembly on Tuesday.
The embarrassing incident which happened on Tuesday, resulted in the damage of the mace, the symbol of legislative authority.
Amosun, at about 10a.m on Wednesday morning met with the two warring factions in his office for over two hours to quickly address the problem and to end the crisis.
At the end of the meeting, all the 26 members informed journalists that the conflict was over, hence the matter has been settled.
Speaker, Suraj Adekunbi, was asked to retain his seat, while suspended members were also reinstated.
Speaking with journalists, Remmy Hazzan, who was elected as temporary speaker by 14 lawmakers on Tuesday, apologised to the public for the actions of all the 26 lawmakers.
“We offended the entire citizenry of Ogun State, but, sometimes you cannot completely rule out such when there are issues and it is going beyond what temper can handle. We are saying here to all the good people of Ogun State that we are sorry.
“Because, if this is a state where the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo hailed from, and he ran the best of parliament back then in the 60s and 70s, it should not be the state that would be an example of what is repugnant to the acceptable norms in a legislature,” he said.
The Speaker, Mr. Adekunbi, agreed with Mr. Hazzan and expressed regrets over the lawmakers’ actions on Tuesday.
“Sincerely, we want to use this medium to apologise to all good people of Ogun State for what transpired at the hallow chamber yesterday,” Mr. Adekunbi said.
Also speaking, the state governor apologised on behalf of the lawmakers, saying the resolution of the crisis was a posthumous birthday gift to former Premier of the Western Region of Nigeria, Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
“I want to apologise on behalf of the House of Assembly, the good people of Ogun and to all lovers of democracy. This is Ogun State, the home of Awolowo, Obasanjo, Soyinka and other giants who have laboured selflessly to make us what we are,” he said.
“So, we cannot afford to let them down, we are sorry. There can be no befitting birthday gift than this to the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo. They are the ones that have laboured selflessly for all of us.
“So, I think this is a perfect birthday gift for Baba Obafemi Awolowo and respect for all others who have labored to place Ogun on an enviable height in the contest of the Nigerian nation or government,” Mr. Amosun said.
Awolowo was born on March 6, 1909 and died 26 years ago.
At the end of the meeting, the lawmakers converged at the state assembly’s complex.
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