APC lawmakers shun peace meeting with Fayose

The 19 All Progressives Congress lawmakers of the Ekiti State House of Assembly on Thursday shunned the peace meeting convened by Chief Afe Babalola (SAN) to reconcile them with Governor Ayodele Fayose.

The lawmakers in a statement by Speaker Adewale Omirin’s Special Adviser on Media, Wole Olujobi, explained that while they appreciated the peace moves initiated by the eminent lawyer, surrounding circumstances gave away the governor as not prepared for any resolution of the crisis.

Specifically, the lawmakers said the security measures put in place for the peace parley revealed that the governor had a plan to attack and arrest some of them.

The lawmakers, therefore, proposed that the meeting be moved to Ibadan office of the Senior Advocate while members of the committee must be non-partisan elders.

But Babalola at the meeting on Thursday asked the Commissioner of Police, Ebojune Ibine, and the State Director of Department of State Service, Mr. Duke Fubara, to explain if they planned to arrest the lawmakers.

Both of them said that they had no instruction from anywhere to arrest anyone.

To ensure attendance of all parties, the founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, said he gave an undertaking to personally lead the APC lawmakers out of the town after the meeting.

He said over 200 policemen had also been stationed at the entry point at Imesi to ensure their safety in and out of the town.

Reacting to Babalola’s claim that he had made security arrangement for 200 policemen to protect them into and out of Ado-Ekiti, the APC lawmakers said this alone had given away the motive of the peace meeting.

They wondered why the peace would include provision of security to escort them out of the state instead of escorting them to the House of Assembly to continue their legislative duties.

“We cannot hold any meeting on the basis of monetary settlement in isolation of the consideration of the constitutional breaches by the governor. It is amazing that the truce terms will not include resumption of our duties, but just to settle us monetarily and escorting us out of Ekiti State,” the statement explained.

Picking holes in the arrangement for the meeting, the lawmakers wondered why the governor was announcing the peace meeting intermittently on the state media while secretly mobilising the PDP members from the 16 local governments to storm the venue of the meeting.

“What is this all about if not coded incitement for mob attacks?” the lawmakers queried.

They also insisted that the security agents told them in clear terms that they could not guarantee their security and warned them against passing through the streets of Ado-Ekiti to the venue of the meeting.

They added that their discovery of a plot to arrest them confirmed their fears that even though Babalola might not know Fayose’s mindset, the revelation and what their government’s sources told them were enough to call off the meeting for a safer venue outside the state capital.

Listing their truce terms, they demanded immediate removal of all illegal structures that aid the activities of thugs and miscreants in and around the Ekiti State House of Assembly premises; restoration of the constitutionally recognised Speaker (Omirin), and other principal officers illegally impeached back to their lawful positions; and the G19 should be allowed unfettered access to and from the Ekiti State House of Assembly to perform their legislative duties until the expiration of their tenure on June 6, 2015.

Others include stoppage of political arrests and vendetta against the APC members adding that the governor should facilitate these demands between now and May 4, 2015.

They expressed sincere appreciation to the elders who facilitated the meeting and urged them to consider holding the meeting at a neutral and safer venue.

But Fayose at the meeting promised to shift ground on contentious issues if that would return peace to the state.

The governor, who said his gesture should not be taken for cowardice, also debunked allegations by the lawmakers that he had connived with security agencies to arrest them if they appeared for the meeting.

“Within the ambit of the laws, I will respect the views of all of them. If there is anybody who should be evasive, it should be me because their time has almost expired. The guilty are afraid.

“They said I sent police to arrest them, where will I keep them after arresting them? We should stop playing to the gallery in a matter like this. I’m ready to shift ground. I’m ready to ensure they depart and finish their tenure successfully and whatever is due to them, I’m ready to pay. That is not an act of cowardice.

“I’m prepared to make peace and work in the overall interest of the state. I’m ready to submit myself to this meeting as many times as possible.”

Others at the meeting include the Chairman, Committee for the Creation of Ekiti State, Chief Deji Fasuan, a former Minister of National Planning, Chief Ayo Ogunlade, a delegate to the National Conference 2014, Dr. Kunle Olajide and the factional Speaker, Dele Olugbemi.

APC lawmakers shun peace meeting with Fayose

Court halts impeachment moves against Fayose

A Federal High Court in Abuja today, set aside all actions and activities of the embattled Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Dr Adewale Omirin and the All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers from November 21, 2014 till date, including the commencement of impeachment proceeding and notice alleging misconduct against the Stare Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose and his Deputy, Dr Olusola Eleka.

Justice E. Chukwu gave the ruling on an Exparte Application in Suit Number FHC/ABJ/CS/361/15 filed by the factional Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Rt Hon Dele Olugbemi and six other Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmakers.

The judge also granted plaintiffs in the suit leave to serve the originating summons on the defendants through newspaper advertisements.

Olugbemi and six others had filed the suit, seeking an order of the court declaring the seats 19 lawmakers vacant having abdicated their functions since November 21, 2014 and also an order restraining the police from aiding, abetting or assisting the lawmakers from carrying out any illegal act.

Apart from Omirin and the APC legislators, also joined as defendants in the suit are the Inspector General of Police and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Hearing of the Motion on Notice has been adjourned till May 13.

 

Court halts impeachment moves against Fayose

What will history say about Ayo Fayose?

Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State is an enigma. I know a lot of Nigerians would find even the contemplation unacceptable but then truth must be told. To drive the point home appropriately, let us attempt a definition of the word “enigma”.

The online dictionary, oxforddictionaries.com, defines enigma as “A person or thing that is mysterious or difficult to understand.” I do not know a better word to describe any man who sponsored some of the most virulent advertisement against the person and candidature of Muhammadu Buhari before the recently concluded presidential election but would equally be the first to congratulate him when it became obvious that Buhari was winning the election. Fayose just seems so adept at compartmentalising his emotions even if just fleetingly. But this is not the only testimony of enigma of Fayose and I am going to attempt a systematic construction from here.

When he was declared winner of the June 21, 2014 governorship election in his state, there were two phenomenal things about the declaration. The first was that the 55-year-old defeated a sitting governor who was a contestant in the election. Now, in Nigeria, you hardly find anyone defeating an incumbent executive, be they president, governor or council chairman. It is just not our way.

Fayose did not just win the election, he defeated Governor Kayode Fayemi in all the 16 local government areas in the state, including the latter’s Oye Local Government Area. Although a tape allegedly recorded by an intelligence officer who was on duty during the election increased speculations about the likely manipulation of this election, two immutable factors testify that Fayose attained this victory creditably.

One is that elections are hardly ever rigged with the perfection of the results of the electoral exercise under consideration. And the second is that all possible courts in the land have conclusively decided that the election was legitimately won by Fayose.

The second significant thing about his victory in 2014 was the fact that he was returning to the position eight years after his first tenure was terminated by an impeachment. Fayose was first sworn in as governor of the state on May 29, 2003. He however soon ran into trouble with the Federal Government under the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. This was followed by allegations of corruption initiated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and his eventual impeachment by members of the House of Assembly for a myriad of charges in October, 2006.

In effect, he won the 2014 election with quite a baggage of moral and legal issues hanging on his neck.

These accusations have formed the basis of a chain of actions and law suits which continue to dog the governor since his election. At some point, there were fears that he might not be sworn in because of the issue of eligibility which was one grounds of appeal raised by the All Progressives Congress against him.

Although the governor was last week finally vindicated by the Supreme Court, he still has a case with 19 members of the state House of Assembly who are bent on impeaching him over a series of alleged constitutional infringements.

The impeachment notice brought the cloudy situation that the House of Assembly has been in since November last year when seven members of the House sat and impeached Dr. Adewale Omirin as their Speaker and appointed Mr Dele Olugbemi as his replacement to a head.

The seven legislators alleged that the decision became imperative following Omirin and his deputy’s “absence without official notice,” and that “the business of the House cannot grind to a halt” in their absence. They also accused Omirin of revealing official secrets, misappropriation of assembly funds and signing of bonds with the past executive without the knowledge of other members of the House.

This is the situation that Ekiti has been in over the past few months. When the majority legislators are not plotting to send Fayose out of government, they are calling press conferences to draw national attention to allegations including threats to their lives by the Fayose administration.

And on the part of the administration, we have seen at least two massive blockage of roads leading into Ado Ekiti as well as the House of Assembly complex, all in a bid to ensure those who want to impeach the governor do not have access to the complex.

Just last Monday, private and public schools failed to reopen for the third term while a lot of workers went back home out of fear of being caught in any untoward situation that could emanate from clashes between supporters of the APC and Fayose’s Peoples Democratic Party.

The Monday action was a direct result of the governor’s broadcast the previous day alleging that the opposition lawmakers planned to invade the Assembly on Monday to effect the impeachment proceedings against him. He urged transport unions, market women and workers to rise up to protect the mandate they gave him. Incidentally, a day before that day, Fayose had during a church service appealed to his political opponents to sheathe the sword and join him in the very urgent need to move the state forward. And then the broadcast just shortly after!

One week before this, members of labour unions in the state staged peaceful protests in support of the governor warning that any attempt to impeach him was bound to meet the resistance of workers who voted him into power.

The Secretary to the Nigeria Labour Congress in the state, Mr. Ade Obatoye, was quoted as saying that: “…the people of Ekiti did not only vote for Fayose, but the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land, had also revalidated it. We appeal to the APC to wait for four years when there will be chance to elect another governor and if they can appeal to our people, they can get it back, but not the way they are presently doing.”

All of these without any doubt point to the fact that Fayose is quite popular amongst the Ekiti State electorate and that those who voted for him are willing to defend their mandate, something which put him in a rare class of politicians in the country.

However, the governor must realise that there is a difference between populism and delivering good governance, and that there is a difference between being famous and being a role model, which is what everyone who is in a position of leadership like Fayose should aim for. The governor is totally far from that lane with these invitations to protests and sieges to institutions of government.

Maybe, the governor needed to do some desperate things for his political survival at some point, but he has already started to beat the drums too hard and risks a tear. As he gets close to the first anniversary of his administration, he needs to face governance and seek peaceful co-existence of all the people he governs. The governor needs to behave like a leader, live up to the promises he made to work with the APC lawmakers last Sunday, give them all their dues and work towards leaving a legacy that would outlive him. He needs to seek the assistance of traditional and religious leaders, who are too quiet by the way.

True, the APC lawmakers and their party equally need to bury the hatchet and allow peace to reign but the governor has more at stake. He has to justify the second chance that God has given him and work for the good of his people that is going up in waste. He needs to stop this popularity show and work towards the peace and development of the state. So, he will be on the right side of history. That is still possible.

Twitter: @niranadedokun

What will history say about Ayo Fayose?

Threat to make Ekiti ungovernable: Fayose drags APC to AU, UN

The governor of Ekiti state, Ayodele Fayose, has noted that he has reported the All Progressives Congress, APC, to the United Nations (UN) and the African Union (AU) on the imminent reign of impunity by APC as from May 29, stressing that there is an alleged threat by the party to make Ekiti state ungovernable.

“In alerting the international community on what to expect from May 29 as regards the threat by the APC to make Ekiti ungovernable, I have decided to put on notice the United Nations (UN) and the African Union (AU) on the imminent reign of impunity by APC as from May 29.

“Since Ekiti people are certain to resist the planned plundering of their land, Nigerians and the world at large should know who to hold responsible in the event of anarchy in Ekiti State in particular and the entire Yorubaland,” he noted in a press statement.

Read full statement below:

It has become imperative once again to address the media on the constitutional and political crises being foisted on our dear State, Ekiti by irritants of unbridled ambitions, who are not only devoid of spirit of sportsmanship but implacable even when all odds are against them and roundly rejected by the good people of the state.

It is no longer news that I defeated an incumbent governor in all the 16 Local Government Areas in the State and that for the first time in the history of Nigeria, attempts were made to use the courts to prevent someone who clearly won a governorship election from assuming office.

Since June 21, 2014 that the All Progressives Congress (APC) suffered that humiliating defeat, the party has suffered defeats in the entire local government areas in Ekiti State in four other elections, the latest being the House of Assembly election in which APC won no single seat out of the 26 seats.

Ekiti people have been persistent in their preference for me and my party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to correct the ills of the last four years and set the State on the path of greatness.

Despite that Ekiti people have consistently spoken with their votes against the APC, Nigerians are witnesses to the litany of illegalities being woven by both the national leadership of the party and its Ekiti State chapter, all in an attempt to rob Ekiti people of the mandate freely given to me.

Despite receiving bloodied nose in both the political and judicial arena in the hands of the Ekiti masses as represented by me, these desperate politicians are unrelenting in their shenanigans, the latest being the information at my disposal that even after May 29, the state would not know peace.

I however trust Ekiti people to do what is right in securing peace in their land.

I have been severally informed that I became the prime demolition target of the APC national leadership because of my overt and unalloyed support for President Goodluck Jonathan during the campaigns.

Insiders in their party also told me that APC leaders were also yet to get over the fact that in the entire South-West, Ekiti was the only state they could not “rob” for General Mohammed Buhari (rtd). The eagle-eyed surveillance of Ekiti people ensured that.

I wish to declare unequivocally that I remain loyal to President Jonathan even after May 29 as my support for his re-election and administration was not about bread-and-butter. I was convinced he was moving Nigeria in the right direction, despite all the noise. I have no regrets supporting him. If same situation presents itself again, I would do it all over.

Let me state It clearly that if President Jonathan is deserted by all Nigerians today, I, Ayodele Fayose, would remain with him. I have chosen to be his last-man standing.

If for this show of loyalty to Mr President and my party, APC and its leaders believe that the best way to pay me back is to make Ekiti ungovernable, the decision on appropriate reaction belongs to the people, whose mandate I keep in trust.

It is ironic that those who said worse things about the President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) when they were in opposing parties, are the ones milling around him today, using him as an electoral talisman and demonizing us for saying things of lesser magnitude during a campaign that was mainly characterized by hate-messages from both divides.

I also want to put on record that if all PDP members decamp to APC today, I will remain the last-man standing for the party, even as I have no cause to denigrate the office of the president.

I also promise APC a robust and engaging opposition both in the South-West, and nationally, with me playing a prominent role.

Let me again state that I will continue to seek peace with my traducers and troublers of Ekiti.

Since the Supreme Court judgement which held my 2006 impeachment as illegal, unconstitutional, null and void and of no effect, my preachings have been peace. This is to see if a hand of fellowship as urged by elders in the state and the nation at large would bring sanity to the opposition camp. It definitely has nothing to do with cowardice; as Ekiti is a land of the brave.

In alerting the international community on what to expect from May 29 as regards the threat by the APC to make Ekiti ungovernable, I have decided to put on notice the United Nations (UN) and the African Union (AU) on the imminent reign of impunity by APC as from May 29.

Since Ekiti people are certain to resist the planned plundering of their land, Nigerians and the world at large should know who to hold responsible in the event of anarchy in Ekiti State in particular and the entire Yorubaland.

God bless our land.

Ayo Fayose,

Governor, Ekiti State

23/4/15

 

Threat to make Ekiti ungovernable: Fayose drags APC to AU, UN

Fayose has degraded our values in Ekiti — Sen Ojudu

Senator Babafemi Ojudu represents Ekiti Central Senatorial District in the Senate. In this interview, he reviews recent developments in his state and expresses optimism that Ekiti state will rise again. Excerpts:

What was responsible for your party’s loss in the just conducted general elections?

Fayose and Omirin

It is not particular to Ekiti State. As at the last count, about 76 Senators will not be returning. There is so much noise about how much we earn and there is a misconception about what our roles are.

So people do not understand. Constituents expect you to assist them in paying their children school fees and all of those things. And if you don’t do that, they are angry and they resort to calling you names.

Even those you have assisted once, come back again and you let them know you have others who are still waiting but they don’t want to know. The kinds of things they want you to do for them are often not your function. They want you to play the role of the executive and, of course because you are not the executive, you cannot do it, they hate you for it.

Unfortunately, we never made attempt to address these issues collectively as Senators. There is no way elected lawmakers could have solved the personal problems of everyone who voted for them without looting the economy.

Vacating power

That, for me, is largely responsible for the 76 Senators that are not returning to the Senate.

Do you think that the honour being accorded the outgoing President for conceding defeat at the election is justified considering the attempts made towards truncating the success of the electoral process?

We have to be magnanimous. It is difficult to vacate power and we know the consequences for not vacating power by people who have been defeated during elections in Africa.

For a man who has been so used to power to come out and concede defeat, it is worth commending. That is the reason for all the commendations you have seen. It is also a way of saving him from being disgraced. It is a means of helping assuage his feelings and psychologically assisting him in coming out of the trauma of losing an election. So, I don’t think there is anything bad in it. I want to say that it is even commendable.

Given the opposition by the PDP of the use of the Smart Card Reader for the election, how would you assess the process?

Well, the electoral perfection in Nigeria is a work in progress. I believe that there is still more to be done while commending the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for the good job they have done.   When I see some figures returned from parts of the country, I am worried that we are not yet where we should be.

Looking at it sincerely, if you are talking of true democracy, where you will find it is the Southwest. If you see the votes from Rivers and the votes from the Delta, they are indefensible.

And the card reader, which worked in the Southwest but disallowed from working in order parts, would have checkmated that.

What is the problem in Ekiti state as your party seems to be moving towards extinction given the outcome of recent elections?

Honestly I will be lying if I tell you that I can put my finger to what the problem is.   I just realize that the only reason I can give is that there is too much poverty in the state.   That perhaps has economically affected the reasoning of the people that they are losing their sense of what is good for them.   They no longer want to subscribe to high ideals. All they want is money which is what has been reduced to stomach infrastructure.   That is what has been used during the campaigns and that is what they go for.

I cannot blame them. In Ekiti State there are no industries to create jobs.   All they have is the civil service and teaching.  Virtually everybody Ekiti are politicians and this is what they survive on. Whoever brings the money is the king no matter his or her evil design for them. So the challenge before any government now in Ekiti State is how to create industries and provide employment for the teeming youths. Anything short of this will create a horrendous social problem.

How do you feel when your state is now associated with impunity and rascality?

We have to be magnanimous. It is difficult to vacate power and we know the consequences for not vacating power by people who have been defeated during elections in Africa.

For a man who has been so used to power to come out and concede defeat, it is worth commending. That is the reason for all the commendations you have seen. It is also a way of saving him from being disgraced. It is a means of helping assuage his feelings and psychologically assisting him in coming out of the trauma of losing an election. So, I don’t think there is anything bad in it. I want to say that it is even commendable.

Given the opposition by the PDP of the use of the Smart Card Reader for the election, how would you assess the process?

Well, the electoral perfection in Nigeria is a work in progress. I believe that there is still more to be done while commending the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for the good job they have done.   When I see some figures returned from parts of the country, I am worried that we are not yet where we should be.

Looking at it sincerely, if you are talking of true democracy, where you will find it is the Southwest. If you see the votes from Rivers and the votes from the Delta, they are indefensible.

And the card reader, which worked in the Southwest but disallowed from working in order parts, would have checkmated that.

What is the problem in Ekiti state as your party seems to be moving towards extinction given the outcome of recent elections?

Honestly I will be lying if I tell you that I can put my finger to what the problem is.   I just realize that the only reason I can give is that there is too much poverty in the state.   That perhaps has economically affected the reasoning of the people that they are losing their sense of what is good for them.   They no longer want to subscribe to high ideals. All they want is money which is what has been reduced to stomach infrastructure.   That is what has been used during the campaigns and that is what they go for.

I cannot blame them. In Ekiti State there are no industries to create jobs.   All they have is the civil service and teaching.  Virtually everybody Ekiti are politicians and this is what they survive on. Whoever brings the money is the king no matter his or her evil design for them. So the challenge before any government now in Ekiti State is how to create industries and provide employment for the teeming youths. Anything short of this will create a horrendous social problem.

How do you feel when your state is now associated with impunity and rascality?

 

Fayose has degraded our values in Ekiti — Sen Ojudu

Fayose is the chief security risk of Ekiti - Omirin

In this interview with KAMARUDEEN OGUNDELE, the embattled Speaker of Ekiti State House of Assembly, Dr. Adewale Omirin, speaks about the tension between the All Progressives Congress’ lawmakers and Governor Ayodele Fayose

What is your response to Governor Ayodele Fayose’s plea for forgiveness?

We know the type of person he is. As far as I’m concerned, I don’t trust him. He says one thing and does the opposite. So, he is not somebody we can trust. I don’t think he is sincere about what he is saying because if he was sincere, what came up in Ekiti State yesterday (Friday) should not have come up again. The entire state was in disarray. The roads were blocked and thugs were everywhere. All the entrances were blocked. Even those bringing in their corpses from Lagos State were asked to open the casket. For what?

Are you willing to forgive him if he is sincere?

We are ready for dialogue too, if he is ready to toe the path of peace. He is the one causing trouble. He is the one that has brought inconvenience to us and our families. He has stopped our salaries and other entitlements. It is not that we don’t want to work with him, but he is the one refusing to allow peace to reign in the state.

I’m an Ekiti man. What I want is peace and harmony. There is nothing I’m going to gain from asking him to go. We want the state to be governed in the right direction like other states. He is not the only governor in Nigeria. He is supposed to be the chief security officer of the state but he is the chief security risk of the state. For me and other elites of Ekiti State, this is not acceptable to us. We want a leader for all; a leader that will treat everybody like his subject, not a leader that will chase the opposition about and encourage thugs to move freely, destroy peoples’ properties, beat his subjects, insult elders and assault people. This is not the type of governor we wish for.

If he tries to show remorse, who are we not to forgive him? We don’t have anything to gain by impeaching him. A Yoruba adage says, ‘If you pursued a goat to the wall, the goat has no option than to face you.’ He had pushed us to the wall. Since October, he has not paid our allowances; he has not allowed us to return to the state. Each time we want to come back, he will send thugs just to scare us away. As far as we are concerned, there was no need for that because, in the first instance, we never wanted to quarrel with him. We pledged our loyalty and readiness to work with him. But he thinks the only way he can rule is to subdue the opposition.

We have families; we have people who depend on us. He also locked my filling station. That is absolute wickedness. So, if he is ready to change, we will forgive him.

The factional Speaker, Dele Olugbemi, claimed you invited him to a meeting in Lagos and Osun states to plot the impeachment.

Ask him to provide proofs. I have never invited Olugbemi to a meeting. I don’t know what he is talking about.

What kind of solution are you exploring?

He (Fayose) knows what to do. There is no way a seven-member Assembly can sit in the House. It is illegal. They did not form quorum. The constitution is very clear on this. For the Speaker to be impeached in a 26-member house, you need 18 members. He knows what to do. The status quo should be maintained. He should pay the allowances of all members.

I was in the church when the governor did his thanksgiving (after winning the governorship election); he was rolling on the ground, saying he would not pursue vengeance. He promised to rule with the fear of God. As soon as he left the church, the contrary was the case.

Why did you withdraw the case against Olugbemi?

We withdrew the court case because we felt there was no need for it in the first instance. We felt no need in challenging the action because it was an illegal action. We decided to pursue a political solution. If we had gone to court for an injunction restraining Olugbemi from parading himself as the Speaker in the last six months and we are not getting it, then common sense dictates that we should abandon it and look for a political solution.

Why have you failed to get the injunction?

I don’t know because I’m not the judge.

What is the next step on the Impeachment proceedings?

Let us keep our fingers crossed. Events will be unfolding.

Has the Chief Judge received and acted on the impeachment letter?

Don’t worry, events will be unfolding.

Has the governor reached out to you?

He has an ego; he won’t do that.

Are you ready to reach a compromise on the leadership tussle in the Assembly?

There is no leadership tussle in the Assembly. There was never an impeachment, as far as we are concerned. Olugbemi’s speakership is not known to the law. Has he attended the Conference of Speakers? He dares not. I have been attending; I’m the only recognised Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly.

He claimed that the Speakers meeting took place only once in the last six months?

Was he invited? I was in Abuja in February for the meetings. Was he there? I was there to submit the constitutional amendment; was he there? To show their ignorance, the constitutional amendment was submitted on (February) 18 to the National Assembly; they went to submit theirs on (February) 22. You can see how ignorant Olugbemi and his groups are.

You have not been seen in the public of late. Why is this so?

There was no way I could have been around. I contested an election; I was not around to vote. I was not allowed to even campaign. I even learnt that there was a price tag on my head for anyone that kills me. I don’t want to be killed. That is why I have been away from Ekiti State.

Is it true that three truckloads of thugs stormed your house?

I was not around but that was what I was told. They were in unmarked vehicles. They were the governor’s hitmen. Maybe they thought I was around.

You lost the election. If you had been around, do you think you could have still won the election?

Of course, I would have won. Their candidate is not my match. He (Fayose) knew what he was doing; that was why he didn’t allow us to campaign. Can their candidates measure up to us? He felt the best thing was to run us out of town so that he could have a field day.

Are you satisfied with the response of security agencies to your complaint?

The police have not been friendly with us. The state’s All Progressives Congress Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatubosun, is always complaining. I was not in town and my people were arrested on the excuse that they tore posters. Two weeks after, the Peoples Democratic Party’s thugs went to tear posters; the police went there and took pictures but nobody was arrested. As of the time the former Commissioner of Police was there, the police were not our friend. He was hand in glove with Fayose.

Chief Afe Babaloloa (SAN) wrote you a letter on the need to broker peace in the state. What was your first reaction?

The APC is not against peace in Ekiti State. We are peace lovers, so if the elder statesman wanted to intervene, we are not against it. It is not a decision for only me. It is a decision for all of the G-19 lawmakers and the party to make. But we have to sit down and discuss what we want.

Apart from the letter, has Babalola reached out to you through other means?

Yes. He put a call through to me and I told him what I have just told you.

Are you likely to sit over the issues with the governor?

There is no way we won’t sit together. Look at what has happened today. Former Governor Segun Oni was in the PDP, while former Governor Kayode Fayemi was in the APC. Today, they are friends. We can be enemies today; tomorrow we can be members of the same political party and be eating together.

Can you tell us your experience on the day you were turned back at Itawure?

It was a betrayal of trust on the part of the police. We were determined to enter Ekiti State, but the Police, in collaboration with General Aliyu Momoh, who has been allegedly fingered in the leaked audio file on (alleged) Ekiti (governorship election) rigging, were in charge, so we didn’t expect anything better from the general.

We learnt that you were almost lynched and that your vehicle was almost burnt. Is this true?

It is very correct. We were stopped at Itawure by the soldiers and we remained in our vehicle. After about 30 minutes, they said we had to go back and they escorted us out of the state.

It was alleged that one of your members fired the shot that killed one Modupe Taiwo (Olaya) in Efon Alaaye.

Where did he get a gun? All of us were seated inside an air-conditioned vehicle nobody came down. None of us had a gun. It is just blackmail. The governor, out of desperation, brought a fake mother and asked her to be crying for journalists to cover.

The governor alleged that you came with policemen from Lagos. Is this true?

It is a lie; nobody came from Lagos with us.

But he supplied the particulars of the policemen.

The police from Ekiti met us at Itawure and were ready to lead us in. There was no external police there.

Have your security details been restored?

No. I have not seen anybody, I only read about it in the newspapers.

Have you lodged a formal complaint?

I have done that.

Could anyone identify the thugs that visited your home?

They wore masks and came in unmarked vehicles, so no one saw their faces.

What are your terms of settlement?

It is left for the governor to maintain the status quo. I will resume as the Speaker and he should pay all the outstanding (allowances) of the 19 lawmakers because he has been paying the (other) seven since we left.

What advice do you have for the governor?

He should behave like a leader and governor of the state. He should rule the state with the fear of God and rule of law. His behaviour is becoming an embarrassment to us in Ekiti State. Was he the only PDP governor that was campaigning for President Goodluck Jonathan? A governor should conduct himself in a peaceful manner. He should give equal treatment to everybody.

The PDP is in charge in the state, are you sure the APC can still retain the 18 lawmakers with you?

They are solidly with me. Nobody will change (to other parties) and they have always appeared with me in public, unlike them who are claiming to be 10 but you can only see seven in the public.

Fayose is the chief security risk of Ekiti - Omirin

Fayose’s impeachment: APC lawmakers working to ensure state of emergency in Ekiti

Ado Ekiti—The factional Speaker of Ekiti State House of Assembly, Hon. Dele Olugbemi, has raised the alarm that his All Progressives Congress, APC, colleagues in the House are working tirelessly with outsiders  to ensure that a state of emergency is declared in Ekiti State.

Olugbemi told newsmen in Ado Ekiti yesterday at a press briefing that the APC lawmakers have a ‘Plan B’ against the governor, Mr Ayo Fayose, should the move to impeach him fail.

Olugbemi, who boasted of being a member of the Odua People’s Congress, OPC, said there was no where in the constitution of Nigeria where it was stated that persons can not belong to voluntary organizations or practice traditional medicine.

In his reaction, Dr Adewale Omirin, through his media assistant, Wole Olujobi, told Vanguard: ‘’All these things Dele Olugbemi is saying are not true. Nobody is planning anything to instigate a state of emergency.

‘’Olugbemi is barely educated and so he knows little about  representative governance. It is good that he confessed that he is a member of a militia group, OPC, that thrives in arbitrariness and mob tactics in resolving issues.

‘’That is what he has been demonstrating and Governor Fayose was so impressed because they are the same.

‘’That is why the governor baptised him with the name of Ekiti State House of Assembly Speaker and he is so happy to be so called without acting the character of a Speaker.

‘’How does a party that is not in power instigate action or actions that will lead to a declaration of a state of emergency? Olugbemi is acting loud, calling public attention to himself.

‘’ This is a man who on a live television programme last week castigated Fayose for running a one-man-show government and virtually asking Ekiti people to warn the governor to change his style.

‘’ I will advise that Olugbemi be ignored because he is an unstable character who in one minute is befriending you and the next moment he turns your enemy. ‘’

Olugbemi who allegedly emerged the Speaker of the House last year November after the seven PDP members claimed to have impeached  Omirin, said his APC counterparts in the House are working in concert with certain politicians in both Osun and Lagos States, adding that they have made an overture to him to dump Fayose and support the 19 APC lawmakers in their bid to impeach the governor

The lawmaker, however, stressed that he and the other six PDP lawmakers in the House   have promised to sink or survive with Fayose since they are convinced that he is for the masses.

Olugbemi, who warned that no group of people or politicians would be allowed   to plunge the state into chaos, disclosed that he had accepted to play along with the APC group by holding nocturnal meetings with them in Lagos.

“They want me to turn my back against Fayose by thinking I would resign my current status as Speaker so that their man, Dr. Adewale Omirin, could automatically step in as Acting-Governor immediately the governor is removed, and I will retain my position as Speaker.

“But I, along with my other patriotic colleagues on the side of truth and justice have vowed that we will rather sail or sink with Fayose, whose interest we are ready to defend with the last drop of our blood,” he said.

The factional Speaker, therefore,  warned that both the APC lawmakers including their sponsors would be in trouble should they go ahead with their planned impeachment or any other anti-democratic move that would not make him complete his four-year term.

He also insisted that Omirin was no longer Speaker of the Assembly, having been impeached and his impeachment challenged at a Lagos Court, declaring that the status quo remained whether or not the suit he instituted in court to challenge his removal had been withdrawn or not.

The move by the 19 APC lawmakers in Ekiti State House   of Assembly to impeach the state governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose and his Deputy, Dr Kolapo Olubunmi Olusola may have suffered a temporary setback

The lawmakers, through the embattled Speaker, Hon Omirin, had announced through a letter sent to the Chief Judge of the State last week, Justice Ayodeji Daramola, to set up a seven member panel to investigate allegation of gross misconduct against the governor, Mr Fayose and his Deputy.

But the move has been denied by the state judiciary which yesterday claimed  ignorance of any letter from Omirin.

There was uneasy calm in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital yesterday as news filtered into town that the Supreme Court would be delivering judgment today, in the disputed June 21, 2014 Ekiti gubernatorial election.

 

Fayose’s impeachment: APC lawmakers working to ensure state of emergency in Ekiti

Don’t constitute Fayose’s impeachment panel – PDP lawmakers

PDP factional leader of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Dele Olugbemi, has written the the State Chief Judge‎, Justice Ayodeji Daramola, asking him to ignore a request to set up a panel to investigate allegations raised in the impeachment notice to Governor Ayodele Fayose.

He was reacting to a letter written to the CJ by the embattled Speaker and leader of the All Progressives Congress lawmakers in the Assembly, Dr. Adewale Omirin, on Thursday.

The letter had requested the CJ, Daramola to raise a seven-man panel within seven days of receipt of the letter to investigate Fayose and his Deputy, Dr. Oluosla Kolapo, over allegations of impunity, violence, stalking and other constitutional breaches.

The lawmakers relied on Section 101 of the 1999 Constitution as amended, which according to them, empowers the Assembly to regulate its sittings, including sitting in a public building within the state capital if the lives of members are not safe.

Majority Leader, Churchill Adedipe, Irepodun/Ifelodun Constituency one explained that the sitting ought to have taken place in the hallowed chamber on April 7, 2015‎ but members were waylaid by thugs who mounted roadblock and threatened their lives with dangerous weapons.

However, Fayose, in a statement by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, argued that no sitting of Ekiti Assembly took place on Thursday as claimed by the APC lawmakers.

Addressing journalists on Friday in Ado Ekiti, Olugbemi said the said letter directing the CJ to raise the investigative panel did not emanate from the office of the Speaker because Omirin had been impeached on November 20.

“We never wrote any letter to the Chief Judge directing him to constitute an investigative panel, neither was the House involved in any impeachment proceedings against the Executive Governor of our great state,” he said.

The clerk of the Assembly, Mr. Tola Esan, was at the briefing with the Sergeants-at-Arms and other staff.

Olugbemi added, “It is common knowledge that all legitimate sessions of any House of Assembly takes place only inside the hallowed chambers of House of Assembly. Indeed, a y other purportedly sitting of the House at any other location outside the Hallowed Chamber of the House of Assembly is null and void and of no effect whatsoever.

“This is more so when such sittings purportedly took place without the principal officers here present with me now.”

The factional Speaker said he had advised the CJ to “discountenance all letters, resolutions, proceedings or processes emanating from Dr. Adewale Omirin or any other person impersonating his person or office.

“I have also copied the Chief Justice of Nigeria, the Director of State Services and the Commissioner of Police so that they can jointly assist with the apprehension of this impostor and his cohorts before they cause further breakdown of law, order and further havoc on Ekiti State and it’s people.”

Don’t constitute Fayose’s impeachment panel – PDP lawmakers

Fayose Impeachment: Ekiti PDP goes to war, blocks assembly entrance

Ado Ekiti – Members of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ekiti State   on Monday blocked the two major roads leading to the   state House of Assembly following   rumours that 19 All Progressives Congress lawmakers were planning to hold a sitting to impeach Governor Ayodele Fayose.

PDP supporters blocking an entrance to the Ekiti State House of Assembly in Ado Ekiti … on Monday
Photo credit: Punch News

The party loyalists were led by the Deputy Governor,   Kolapo Olusola; a former Speaker,   Tunji Odeyemi; the Special Assistant to the governor on Information,   Lanre Ogunsuyi, and   Fayose’s Public Communications and New Media aide, Lere Olayinka.

Although nine Toyota Hilux vans carrying men and officers of the Police and the Department of State Services manned the main entrances to the Assembly, the PDP members erected canopies about 200 metres away from the Assemby’s premises.

Some of them sat quietly under the canopies erected by the Secretariat Road   while others danced to music supplied in front of the old complex.

A bus was used by the PDP members to prevent movement into the Assembly premises from the same road.

On Iyin Road, many of the party supporters also ensured that no one was allowed into the complex.

The APC lawmakers, who had since November 17 stayed away from the House proceedings, had served Fayose with an impeachment notice. They cited impunity, brigandage, stalking and other constitutional breaches by Fayose as reasons for the impeachment notice.

But Ogunsuyi told journalists on Monday that the APC lawmakers led by the   Speaker, . Adewale Omirin,   erred in law by   sending a notice of impeachment to Fayose.

He added that Omirin could not claim to be the Speaker while still challenging his own impeachment in the court.

The governor’s information aide said, “The new Nigeria which President Goodluck Jonathan and Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) all campaigned for is the one that would respect the rule of law. With this convergence, you can see that the people are standing by their governor. They are ready to defend their mandate.

“Nobody asked Omirin and other APC lawmakers not to come to the Assembly; they only decided to abdicate their duties since November 17, 2014. Impeachment procedure does not start and end with the Assembly alone. The Judiciary is involved; so their action or plan   is highly condemnable.

“We want to emphasise that they are welcome as long as they are concerned about making laws for the progress of the state; but if it is meant to come and impeach Governor Fayose, we won’t allow that.”

Ogunsuyi, however said the governor, as the leader of the state, would continue to extend the olive branch to the lawmakers.

He said, “We don’t want any unwholesome issue because the task of developing Ekiti is an onerous task that needs to be pursued with vigour. The governor doesn’t want any distraction and that is why he has been pursuing peace at all times.

“We want some measure of decorum in Ekiti. We are not proud of the era whereby we had three governors within a week. We want a stable government and that we will continue to pursue for Ekiti to be at peace.”

Odeyemi advised the APC lawmakers to sheathe their swords and allow peace to reign by putting the interest of the state above theirs.

He said,”The entire issue calls for concerns. As a former legislator, I am quite aware of the rudiment of impeachment process, but far from this, the issue of the news any impeachment will bring to Ekiti’s credibility is uppermost in my mind.

“How would they perceive Ekiti as a people nationwide? So, I am calling on my colleagues to have a rethink because we are duty bound to contribute to the development of this state. I plead with them to embrace reconciliation and forget about heating up the polity unnecessarily.”

Olayinka   said he   received a call from an unknown person on Monday who claimed to be an official of the DSS .

Olayinka added that the caller whom he described as an impersonator, said his office received a report that he was inciting people of the state to violence with the state-owned radio.

He said, “I received a call today (Monday) from a number, 08141602777, claiming that it was from the DSS headquarters in Abuja. I was told that a report was made in the DSS office that I was inciting Ekiti people to violence with the Ekiti Radio.”

According to him, the general manager of the Progress FM, Ado Ekiti, also received a similar message from same number.

The aide stated that he later contacted the DSS office in Ado Ekiti to verify the claim and identify the caller but was told to disregard the call.

However, the APC lawmakers, in a statement   said Fayose was compounding his problems by inciting people,who they called thugs, against the Assembly.

They advised him to note that violence would not solve the burden of constitutional breaches that he had placed on himself.

The lawmakers, in the statement by Omirin’s Special Adviser on Media,   Wole Olujobi, wondered why a governor that had questions to answer would get involved in other unlawful conduct such as the invasion of the Assembly by thugs.

The statement read in part, “It is shocking that the governor would start any act of illegality bordering on public disorder when he is having a load of illegal acts on his head upon which he is facing removal from office.

“Ekiti people were shocked when news spread that the governor had asked his thugs to invade the Assembly and occupy the place to prevent the lawmakers from performing their legal duties.

“These PDP members were holding their meeting in their secretariat when instruction reached them that they must relocate to the Assembly premises where thugs were beating passersby and molesting motorists and residents. All these illegal acts cannot save the governor.

“This is the way   a court in the state was invaded by thugs who   beat up the judges. They tore court records in the Chief Judge’s office and beat up his secretary.

“Now is the turn of the House of Assembly. What the governor is doing is a confirmation that he does not believe and cannot tolerate democratic practice. But democracy is what Ekiti people want and so we expect people of conscience and good will to support the efforts to allow Ekiti people enjoy democratic governance.”

The lawmakers advised the governor to defend the allegations against him in the impeachment notice instead of resorting to self-help that offered nothing but unnecessary venting of anger on the peaceful people of Ekiti State.

They also confirmed in the statement that the security details of the Speaker had been restored by the Police and the DSS.

Fayose Impeachment: Ekiti PDP goes to war, blocks assembly entrance

Fayose planning to attack us – APC lawmakers

The 19 All Progressives Congress lawmakers in Ekiti State House of Assembly have raised the alarm over an alleged plan by Governor Ayodele Fayose to attack them ahead of the April 11 Governorship and House of Assembly elections.

The embattled Speaker, Dr. Adewale Omirin, said their fears were based on information from Government House sources, hinting on a plot to attack‎ them.

Omirin, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Mr. Wole Olujobi, said the leaked report had already gone viral on social media,‎ adding that he would have disregarded the information if not for a similar‎ experience they had shortly after the governor assumed office.

The statement said, “Our fear is not without foundation following similar experience we had when gunmen in black jeeps were visiting our homes at nights to attack us.

“Shortly before that, our party petitioned the Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba, and National Security Adviser, Col Sambo Dasuki, calling their attention to special request by Governor Fayose to the Police authorities to post back to Ekiti some of the policemen the governor used to attack his opponents between 2003 and 2006.

“Unfortunately, our petition was not treated‎. As a result, gunmen in unmarked black jeeps started visiting the homes of APC lawmakers at nights issuing threats to APC leaders and Assembly members.”

The lawmakers, who said the governor should be held responsible if anything happened to them urged the Commissioner of Police, Taiwo Lakanu, to provide security for them as they could no longer take threats to their lives lightly.

“We can no longer take our security lightly as the governor has been boasting around that he would do anything to win all the 16 seats in the House of Assembly in the coming election,” the statement added.

Meanwhil‎e, Omirin has sent Easter greetings to all Christians and Ekiti people in general, urging them to imbibe the virtue of sacrifice as exhibited by Jesus Christ in the most trying moment of his life.

“Jesus Christ demonstrated that making sacrifices is a virtue through which we can save our fellow men. Let this spirit guide you in all you do. It is through generosity of the heart that we can make our impacts felt by our fellow human beings for the life of happiness,” Omirin said.

Fayose planning to attack us – APC lawmakers

Confusion over assassination attempt on Ekiti Speaker

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After a self-imposed exile, the embattled Speaker of the Ekiti House of Assembly, Dr. Adewale Omirin, on Monday returned to the state amid reports of an alleged attempt on his life.

Speaker, Ekiti State House of Assembly, Dr. Adewale Omirin

His media aide, Wole Olujobi, in a statement on Tuesday raised the alarm that there was a distress call from the neighbourhood where Omirin stayed on Monday night that some thugs laid a siege on the Speaker in a foiled robbery incident.

“The caller hinted that the house was the only apartment in the area with a generator supplying light and two dogs let loose.

“He said the plan was to start robbing two houses away from the house and then storm the house to take Omirin’s life. He overheard the planners when they were about to carry out their operation,” Olujobi stated in the statement.

News filtered in later that Omirin, after a meeting with the Commissioner of Police, Taiwo Lakanu, on Tuesday dispelled the reported attempt on his life describing it as baseless and unfounded.

But the Speaker in a telephone interview with our correspondent said he never denied the report of the planned attack on him.

“Why would I say there was nothing like that when the Commissioner of police came to pick me? I was at a private residence when a good samaritan put a call through to me to inform me that some people had laid siege around the place.

“I then called the Commissioner of Police who acted professionally and personally led a team of police to rescue me. I only said I did not see those people. I never said the incident didn’t take place. If it didn’t happen, why did the CP lead a police team to rescue me and kept me in a safe place.”

Omirin said the men in two unmarke‎d vehicles (black jeeps) parked very close to the house fled immediately the men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad got to the scene.

It was learnt that Omirin at the meeting with the CP assured him that he and other 18 lawmakers of the All Progressives Congress won’t foment trouble or make inflammatory comments that could ignite the crisis rocking the Assembly when they resume.

He also said that he had started discussions with security agencies, traditional rulers, prominent Ekiti indigenes on the need to reconcile the feuding groups in the  overall development of Ekiti State.

“I am a man of peace. I have always been assuring Governor Ayodele Fayose of my cooperation and that there was nothing like impeachment plan against him. As far as I am concerned, we are not in Ekiti to foment trouble.

“We are ready to partner Governor Fayose to move the state forward. He should not see us as enemies. We are ready to resume duty as soon as the process completes and we feel the coast is clear,” he was quoted as saying.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Victor Babayemi, could not be reached for comments on Tuesday.

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Confusion over assassination attempt on Ekiti Speaker

Omirin dares Fayose, says he can"t arrest them

THE embattled Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Dr. Adewale Omirin, has reacted to the alleged directive by Governor Ayodele Fayose, asking the Commissioner of Police to arrest the 19 All Progressives Congress lawmakers in the state.

Omirin, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Wole Olujobi, said that the APC lawmakers acted within the law to conduct their sitting in a public building in the state capital last Friday.

Speaker, Ekiti State House of Assembly, Dr. Adewale Omirin

He said, “The governor or the police cannot arrest us for performing our constitutional duty. Section 101 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria makes it explicit that the House can regulate its activities, including conducting its sittings in public buildings in the state capital.

“The Supreme Court had also ruled that the House can conduct its sittings in public places in the state capital if conditions exist that endanger members in the conduct of their sittings.

“Governor Fayose has kept armed thugs permanently in the House of Assembly to attack us. We can’t put ourselves in harm’s way, yet we have a responsibility to our constituents to make laws for good governance. That is why we followed the law to sit to consider issues on the ongoing constitutional amendment.”

Omirin explained that the House had a responsibility to respond to the National Assembly demand to send Ekiti State contributions to the constitutional amendment process.

“Ekiti State has just one House of Assembly. That is why the National Assembly acknowledged the receipt of our resolutions on the constitutional amendment.

“If they are sure of their status, let them approach the National Assembly or the judiciary for recognition,” he added.

Omirin said it was regrettable that Fayose had not learnt from his past experience when he allegedly instigated a constitutional crisis that led to the declaration of the state of emergency and the governor’s impeachment in 2006.

He told the Ekiti CP, Taiwo Lakanu, not to allow himself to be dragged into the political fray in the state, warning that the governor would bear the consequences if he caused conditions that could threaten good governance in Ekiti.

Omirin dares Fayose, says he can"t arrest them

Embattled Ekiti speaker sues Fayose, House

The impeached Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Adewale Omirin, has asked a Federal High Court in Lagos to restrain the Assembly from further carrying on with any form of  legislative function.

Fayose, Govenor elect in Ekiti State

Omirin and  his impeached Deputy, Adetunji Orisalade, prayed the court to  restrain legislative activities in the Ekiti Assembly pending when a suit they  filed in opposition to their impeachment would be resolved.

The two were on November 20, 2014 impeached on the floor of the House by seven members of the House belonging to the Peoples Democratic Party.

The other plaintiffs in the motion filed before Justice Saliu Saidu are the 17 All Progressives Congress members of the Ekiti House.

The defendants, 14 in number, include the Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose (8th respondent),  the current Speaker of the House (1st defendant), his Deputy, Olayinka Abeni (7th defendant),  the Inspector-General of Police, Suleiman Abba and the Department of State Services.

Also joined as defendants are the three commissioners cleared by the House under Olugbemi, namely, Oweseni Ajayi (Attorney-General), Kayode Eso (Commissioner for Works) and Toyin Ojo (Commissioner for Finance).

Other defendants are members of the House loyal to Olugbemi, namely Samuel Ajibola, Adeojo Alexander, Adeloye Adeyinka, Isreal Ajiboye, Fatunbi Olajide and the Commissioner of Police in Ekiti.

In the application, Omirin and others asked Justice  Saidu to make an order of interim injunction restraining Olugbemi and Abeni from parading themselves or acting as the Speaker and Deputy Speaker, respectively, of the House.

Among others prayers they also asked the court to restrain Fayose and his agents “from generally interfering in any manner with the legislative functions of the plaintiffs and particularly from recognising, dealing, associating or relating with or assigning duties or responsibilities that would validate the illegal assumption of duties of the 12th, 13th and 14th defendants as competent commissioners of Ekiti State Government.”

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Embattled Ekiti speaker sues Fayose, House

APC lawmakers mission is to bring down PDP administration in Ekiti - Fayose

By Ehi Ekhator, Naija Center News

The Governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose has said that the All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers in the state have a mission to destroying his administration by all necessary means.

Fayose, Govenor elect in Ekiti State

He disclosed this while answering questions from NAIJA CENTER NEWS correspondent through his Chief Press Secretary,  Mr. Idowu Adelusi on Friday.

Mr. Adelusi said Governor Fayose has done everything to unite the APC lawmakers to work with him, contrary to their cry, but they refused.

He also disclosed that the governor held meeting with the lawmakers five times with the aggrieved lawmakers to the point that he almost knelt down, appealing to them to work and move the state forward.

“I can tell you categorically that Ayo Fayose held meetings, tight hand with the APC lawmakers even after the inauguration five times. I was privy to those meetings and the governor almost went on prostrating, begging them. All they ask the governor to do for them, he did it. Like the allowances and subvention and the governor release everything to them just to make sure that they agree with his administration. Each time they have agreed with the governor, on going back, they will ask their leaders and tell them the outcome of the meeting, and their leaders will tell them not to cooperation with the administration. When another meeting is called, you will find them giving another reasons different from what they had agreed on. It’s their leaders which are residing outside Ekiti State that have been controlling the APC lawmakers to frustrate the administration.

As far as Ekiti State is concerned, his people,  we are moving forward, The people of Ekiti are fully behind Fayose and, i can tell you, things are going on fine. Nobody drove the APC lawmakers away, they went away on their own

He disclosed that nobody is chasing the lawmakers contrary to their accusations that the governor is using the police to intimidate them

He said” there is nothing like crackdown on the APC lawmakers, they are the one that have tried to bring down a PDP government led by Ayo Fayose. After the inauguration, the lawmakers got directives from their leadership that they should not cooperate with Governor Fayose. You know the governor won Fayemi, they resorted at using the lawmakers as a weapon to fight back at Ayo Fayose and the PDP since they are more than the PDP lawmakers in the house.

The advise giving to them by their leadership is to go back to the house and frustrate the administration of Fayose and that any bill, anything brought to the house should not be well attended to and they started sitting and carried out that order. The list of commissioner and council caretaker nominees that were sent to them were rejected”

On the reason given by the Speaker of the APC lawmakers, Dr. Omirin that the nominees were not  attended to because their CVs were not available and the issue was not on order paper, Adelusi said ” What they are telling you is a total lie, The former speaker, Omirin had a  meeting with Governor Fayose. It was the speaker, Omirin who asked Governor Fayose to send the list of nominees and their CVs to the house. The list was sent four days before the sitting, it was sent on Friday and the sitting was to be Monday”

It was also the speaker who told the nominees to appear before them for screening. On the day the sitting was to hold, the APC lawmakers got an order from their leaders that they should not screen the commissioner nominees, that they should remove the discussion from the agenda of the house on that day, which they complied with, so it is the plan of the APC that Fayose administration should be brought down.”

Responding to the allegation that Governor Fayose tampered with the PDP delegates list for the National Assembly Primaries, the CPS said that was not true. He added that the governor used the list that was agreed on by everyone.

He said ” I’ll tell you that it is a total false, Governor has not tampered with the list of delegates. The list of delegates is the one that was agreed to by the party leadership. So whoever may have told you that is only trying to divert attention.”

NAIJA CENTER NEWS could recall that Governor Fayose on October 16, made promise to the people of Ekiti State that he was ready to work with both the APC and PDP lawmakers to move Ekiti forward.

Since the governor assumed office, the state PDP and APC have been marred with different accusations.

Why speaking with NAIJA CENTER NEWS on the statement made by a PDP delegate that Fayose madness and reckless will put the party at a disadvantage for another four years, the CPS said ” There is nothing like that, if you go round the state and ask the people, you will see that what they are telling you is blatant lie, Ekiti PDP is more united, they were united in winning the governorship election, they are more united to win the next governorship election and i can tell you that APC will not even come close.

On the suspension of the former speaker of the House, Dr. Omirin, the CPS disclosed to NAIJA CENTER NEWS that three lawmakers who joined the seven PDP members were APCs. He also disclosed that the lawmakers are presently waiting for the right time to dump APC for the PDP, and for now, they have decided to remain anonymous since they have not declared publicly.

He also said that since Omirin has taken the case to court, the video recorded during the day the speaker was impeached is available, adding that it will be shown in court so as to put an end to the believe that it was ten members who impeached the speaker.

Mr. Idowu Adelusi explained that they had 10 lawmakers on the said date instead of 9 to impeach the speaker, adding that the 3 APC lawmakers always join the PDP lawmakers whenever they seat.

On the closure of the speaker filling station, he said the filling station was closed to public institution, a school which according to him, is against the law. He said residents of the area had written petitions to the appropriate quarter during Governor Fayemi’s administration but was put aside since they were on the same party.

“The governor did not close down any filling station, it was the ministry of Urban and Physical Planning. There is a law that forbid establishment of filling station where public institutions are, there is another law that stop the establishment of filling station near residential areas.

Unfortunately, the filling station was cited close to public institution and residential area. The atrocity was committed during the time of Fayemi. The filing station did not meet the approval of the Ministry of Urban and Physical Planning but because the owner was APC and they were controlling the government at that time, the governor approved it since the governor’s order override the ministry recommendation.

Before Fayose, there were many petitions from the schools and residents from the area which were sent to the ministry. When Fayose came in, the people reminded the governor that the former governor refused to attend to their plea and pleaded that he (Fayose) to look into it. That was why he informed the Ministry to attend to the petitions. The shutting down of filling station was down according to the law. You know people try to read politics to everything one does as long as you are in government without looking at the advantage on the people.

Speaking on the treat by the Federal lawmakers Oyetunde Ojo who berated Fayose and threatened to bring the problem in Ekiti in the house, Adelusi said  no one can interfere in the issue between Ekiti State and lawmakers for now because the matter is in the court. The Fed lawmakers is only making noise because he knows the law”

 

 

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APC lawmakers mission is to bring down PDP administration in Ekiti - Fayose

APC federal reps berate Fayose over purported removal of Omirin as speaker

The All Progressives Congress federal lawmakers in the House of Representatives have berated the Ekiti Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, over the leadership crisis rocking the state House of Assembly.

FAYOSE—Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State (M), taking Oath of Office before the Chief Judge of Ekiti, Justice Ayodeji Daramola, in Ado-Ekiti, yesterday. With them is the governor’s wife, Mrs Feyisetan Fayose. Photo: Dare Fasube

They were reacting to the purported removal of Dr. Adewale Omirin, as the Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, and his replacement with Dele Olugbemi by ‘10’ pro-Fayose lawmakers.

The Chairman, House of Representatives’ Committee on Communications, Mr. Oyetunde Ojo and a member representing Ekiti South Federal Constituency II, Mr. Bamidele Faparusi, vowed that the matter would be raised on the floor of the House as a motion anytime the House resumed from recess.

Speaking in Ode-Ekiti, headquarters of Gbonyin Local Government Area of the State on Friday, the Lawmakers said the House will not watch helplessly when its regulatory powers over the Houses of Assembly was being threatened.

Ojo said, “Available facts showed that Omirin never planned to impeach the Governor, but only called for due process to be followed in the screening of the Commissioner-nominees. This is what democracy is all about. The process cannot allow you to assume a dictatorial status.”

The APC lawmaker added that the party was well-positioned to defeat the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2015 general elections by ensuring that candidates with grassroots’ appeal were picked.

He said, “You can see that many of our members had to scale the fence last week to defend democracy. If not, what happened to Omirin in the hands of the PDP in Ekiti would have happened to Hon. Aminu Tambuwal. That is why we have to be more vigilant.

“You can see that nobody is contesting primaries with me in my constituency because the people felt I have represented them well. Let politics be based on performance and the people’s wish and not by act of brigandage as being done by PDP.

“In the last Governorship election, PDP came as an opposition and won. So the chances of APC are very bright in 2015. We will defeat PDP roundly in all elections because we have done the people proud,” he said.

Faparusi urged Fayose and the PDP lawmakers to bury their heads in shame for allegedly working against democracy that made them.

“What Fayose and his lackeys in the Assembly did was shameful and never portrayed Ekiti as the Fountain of Knowledge. We salute Omirin for going to Court rather than taking law into his hands. He has been able to show that APC members are not hooligans,” he said.

APC federal reps berate Fayose over purported removal of Omirin as speaker

Fayose restores Oni’s privileges as former governor

Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayo Fayose, has restored all the privileges of former Governor Segun Oni, whose election was annulled by an Appeal Court in Ilorin, Kwara State.

FAYOSE—Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State (M), taking Oath of Office before the Chief Judge of Ekiti, Justice Ayodeji Daramola, in Ado-Ekiti, yesterday. With them is the governor’s wife, Mrs Feyisetan Fayose. Photo: Dare Fasube

Oni’s successor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, stopped the privileges enjoyed by Oni on the grounds that a court had declared his election illegal.

Fayose was impeached on October 16, 2006 for misconduct.

A statement in Ado Ekiti on Tuesday by Fayose’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Idowu Adelusi, said the governor took the step in appreciation of the contributions of past leaders in the state.

“Governor Ayo Fayose is restoring all the privileges of former Governor Segun Oni. His portrait, which was removed from the Governor’s Office by former Governor Kayode Fayemi, has been returned.

“All those who served with him and whose portraits were removed by the past administration such as former chief press secretaries, among others, have been returned.

“It was the Fayemi’s administration that even stopped their financial entitlements when it made the House of Assembly to pass a bill that Oni and Fayose were not due for such.

“The excuse they gave was that Fayose did not complete his tenure and Oni’s tenure was unknown to law because the court removed him from office.

“The Fayose’s administration appreciates the contributions of those who have led the state in the past and would not in any way rubbish such.

“We are ready to acknowledge all and would not as a result of political differences rubbish what people have done in the past,” the statement said.

Adelusi expressed the readiness of the governor to provide a leadership that would eventually rank him among statesmen in Ekiti.

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Fayose restores Oni’s privileges as former governor

Impeachment: Ekiti Speaker drags PDP lawmakers to court

The embattled Speaker of the Ekiti State Assembly, Dr. Adewale Omirin, and his deputy, Tunji Orisalade, have approached an Abuja Federal High Court for the restoration of all their rights and privileges.

Speaker, Ekiti State House of Assembly, Dr. Adewale Omirin

The duo were impeached on Thursday by 10 persons who sat in the chambers, among whom were three individuals whose identities have remained unknown.

A member of the Peoples Democratic Party’s caucus, Mr. Dele Olugbemi, who had acted as pro tem Speaker during the controversial Monday’s plenary was elected as the new Speaker.

The lawmakers replaced Orisalade with a female lawmaker who recently defected from the APC to the PDP, Mrs. Abeni Olayinka, representing Ado Constituency 2.

The APC have branded the three as “fake legislators and impersonators,” challenging the seven PDP lawmakers to unveil their identities.

In the originating summons with suit no FHC/ Abj/Cs/885/14 filed on Thursday at the Federal High Court, Abuja, the plaintiffs presented 12 prayers before the court.

The originating summons is supported with a 14-paragraph affidavit deposed to by Mr. Patrick Bisong, a litigation clerk in the chambers of Tunji Abayomi and Co.

Omirin and Orisalade also filed an interlocutory application in which they are seeking a mandatory order directing the defendants to immediately open their offices and restore any and all aides and benefits to them pending the determination of the suit.

The motion was filed pursuant to Order 26 Rules 1, 2 and 3 and Order 28(1) of the Federal High Court Civil Procedure Rules, 2009 and under the inherent powers of the court.

The defendants are Governor Ayodele Fayose, the Inspector General of Police, the Nigeria Police Force and the Ekiti State House of Assembly.

The PDP’s lawmakers in the Assembly had on Monday appointed Olugbemi as pro tem Speaker to preside over the plenary.

The PDP lawmakers cited the absence of the Speaker and his deputy as reasons for the appointment of the Acting Speaker for the day’s business.

Although the PDP has seven members in the Assembly, 10 persons attended the plenary on Monday including three whose identities were concealed.

The plenary on that day approved three commissioner nominees and caretaker committees for the 16 Local Government Areas, and as well granted power to the governor to appoint 16 special advisers.

But the APC lawmakers maintained that only seven members of the Assembly who were mainly PDP members sat at the plenary when it required nine members to form a quorum.

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Impeachment: Ekiti Speaker drags PDP lawmakers to court

Seven Ekiti PDP lawmakers ‘impeach’ Speaker

The seven members of the Ekiti House of Assembly, who are PDP members, have impeached the Speaker of the assembly, Dr Adewale Omirin.

The impeachment of Omirin was carried out on Thursday in the same manner the seven lawmakers sat in controversial circumstances, and heavy police presence on Monday to approve the commissioner nominees and local government caretaker committees sent to the House by Governor Ayodele Fayose.

In Omirin’s place, the lawmakers elected Dele Olugbemi as the new speaker. Olugbemi was also appointed as the Protem Speaker on Monday.

Details later…

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Seven Ekiti PDP lawmakers ‘impeach’ Speaker

State Assembly Crises: Oshiomhole, Amaechi, worse than me - Fayose

The Ekiti State governor, Ayo Fayose, has denied that the speaker of the state House of Assembly, Adewale Omirin, was impeached Monday by lawmakers loyal to him.

FAYOSE—Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State (M), taking Oath of Office before the Chief Judge of Ekiti, Justice Ayodeji Daramola, in Ado-Ekiti, yesterday. With them is the governor’s wife, Mrs Feyisetan Fayose. Photo: Dare Fasube

Ten out of 26 members of the House reconvened Monday without the speaker or the deputy, and named a speaker pro tempore, before approving nominations sent in by the governor.

The lawmakers ratified the appointment of three commissioners, 12 advisers and reconstituted the caretaker committees of the 16 Local Government Areas in the state.

The approvals fueled reports Mr. Omirin had been technically removed from office.

All the lawmakers in attendance were members of the governor’s Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

The All Progressives Congress, APC, said seven lawmakers attended the session, and lambasted the police for providing them full protection despite clearly not meeting the required quorum for the sitting.

During the sitting, the members nominated one of its members, Dele Olugbemi, as the Speaker pro-tempore, an action described by some as a technical impeachment of the substantive Speaker.

But Governor Fayose said in a statement that the lawmakers were breached no laws, and did not impeach the substantive speaker.

“Our attention has been drawn to the news aired by the AIT that the Ekiti State Speaker has been impeached by 7 members,” said his spokesperson, Idowu Adelusi.

“Well, I am not supposed to respond to the lies aired by the AIT purposely to misinformed members of the public because the legislature is another arm of government and whatever they do in their chamber is their business and the executive arm has nothing to do with that.

The statement said: “If they remove their leaders and appoint new ones, that is their business. However, to educate the public, no speaker was removed.”

The governor said nine members of the House sat to and that the House’s standing order allows a quorum of 9 members to sit and appoint a presiding officer.

He criticized the APC, which had earlier lambasted the lawmakers for their action.

“APC are only being hypocritical. APC-controlled state of Edo, we all know what is happening there,” he said. “For over a year now, the state governor has prevented the lawmakers from sitting.

“He said he was going to renovate the Assembly Complex and PDP lawmakers have been meeting in the dilapidated complex, while APC lawmakers are meeting at the Government House.

“Also another APC state of Rivers, the judiciary has been shut down for over a year too.”

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State Assembly Crises: Oshiomhole, Amaechi, worse than me - Fayose

Stop dreaming of being the acting governor - Fayose tells Ekiti Speaker

As APC accuses Fayose of reversing Ekiti’s progress

By Gbenga Ariyibi & Gbenga Oke

The Ekiti Governor, Mr Ayo Fayose, has advised the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Dr Adewale Omirin, to respect his office and stop dreaming of being made the acting governor of the state.

FAYOSE—Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State (M), taking Oath of Office before the Chief Judge of Ekiti, Justice Ayodeji Daramola, in Ado-Ekiti, yesterday. With them is the governor’s wife, Mrs Feyisetan Fayose. Photo: Dare Fasube

Speaking in Ado-Ekiti on Sunday through his Special Assistant on Public Communication and New Media, Mr. Lere Olayinka, the governor berated the speaker for statements credited to him in some Sunday national newspapers in which he said damning evidence came out against Fayose during the hearing of the election petition filed by the All Progressives Congress.

He also advised Omirin to behave responsibly in honour of his exalted office and stop seeing himself as the Speaker of the APC, who is under the control of his party leaders.

But the Speaker has denied addressing a press conference in Lagos where he allegedly told reporters that he would be made the Acting Governor that would conduct a rerun governorship election in January.

He also denied a report on the state television station,EKTV, stating that he addressed a press conference in Lagos where he allegedly told reporters that he would be the Acting Governor that would conduct a rerun governorship election in January.

Omirin, claimed he was no where near Lagos of recent and so he had no contact with reporters to make that unfounded comment, said the report allegedly sponsored by the governor was another blackmail to kill the institutions of government to receive undeserved public sympathy by him (Fayose).

Olayinka maintained that, “It is known to everyone in Ekiti that the speaker even made preparations in readiness for his assumption of office as acting governor on October 16. Obviously, from the tone of the press statement issued by the speaker, which was published in some newspapers today, the speaker is still day-dreaming about his ambition to be acting governor.

“For him to have claimed that Governor Fayose was a perjurer and certificate forger, and that damning reports of alleged fraud were established at the hearings of the election petitions tribunal, Dr. Omirin has further exposed the content of his inner mind as regards his desperate ambition to be acting governor.

being wrought on the state by the new administration.

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Stop dreaming of being the acting governor - Fayose tells Ekiti Speaker