The acting clerk, Mr. Ottun Babatunde, caused a stir yesterday among the Lagos State House of Assembly staff when he was taken to the hospital immediately upon his return from an invitation-only visit to the Department of State Services (DSS).
According to reports, Babatunde, who was previously serving as clerk but was removed from that position, experienced vertigo after accepting an invitation from the DSS to respond to a petition of incitement filed by Olalekan Onafeko, the former clerk who was suspended.
Deputy Speaker Mojisola Meranda had nominated Babatunde to the position of acting clerk of the House, but he asserted that the National Industrial Court in Lagos had dismissed her.
Rumours began circulating that Babatunde had been whisked away from DSS’s office and taken to a local hospital for additional treatment after the incident, which occurred around 1pm, according to a reliable source who told journalist.
The source said, “Mr. Ottun was yesterday afternoon taken to the DSS’ office in Shangisha, in company of a senior staff, Mr. Seyi. He was later released late in the evening and asked to report the next day.
“The invitation was based on a petition written by the removed clerk, Onafeko, who alleged that Babatunde incited staff against him while in attempt to gain entry into his office in apparent defiance to Industrial Court’s order on status quo to remain in the wake of the crisis rocking the assembly, among other allegations.
“Today, he decided to honour the invitation. He went in company of his lawyer, a Senior Advocate. About noon, the news started filtering in that Mr Ottun has been rushed to the hospital from DSS’ office after complaining of dizziness.
“Upon receipt of the information, we were further saddened by the development over the leadership tussle of the House, which has negatively impacted on the staff and management of the assembly.
“We later heard that after few hours, he was discharged and taken to his resident.”
A reflective tone pervaded the personnel as they bemoaned the recent slowdown in the assembly’s operations, which they attributed to Onafeko’s order to banks to withhold the distribution of assembly cash until further notice.
“Both legislative and correspondence activities of the assembly have been brought to their lowest ebb as Onafeko, who forcefully returned into office after his removal, ordered banks to stop payment of running costs and other utilities till further notice. You can imagine what we, staff, are going through presently.
“As you can see for yourself, the atmospheric mood around the Assembly, it is a shadow of itself.”
Vanguard