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Tag: Ayo Fayose

  • Each panel gets blackout

    Each panel gets blackout

    Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose has set up a technical committee to tackle the incessant blackouts in the state.

    Members of the committee are the chief operating officer of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company, special adviser (Utility) to the Governor, general manager, State Water Corporation and general manager, State Electricity Board.

    In a statement yesterday by his Chief Press Secretary, Idowu Adelusi, the governor said incessant power outage was killing small and medium scale businesses and had rendered dams moribund.

    The comatose condition of the dams, according to him, had affected the provision of potable water to the people.

    Fayose said: “One can imagine the hardship small business owners go through, people running businesses, such as salons, welding outfits, among others. A large chunk of what could have been their profit is spent on purchasing and fuelling generators.

    “The health hazard is also there. A number of people have died as a result of inhaling generator fume. We came to office to also learn that most of the water dams in the state are in bad shape.”

  • Audacious crime

    Audacious crime

    •Governor Fayose’s act, by presenting the state budget to a rogue legislature, is an audacious assault on the Constitution

    In his novels, the late Chinua Achebe often referred to the extreme conceit, bordering on lunacy, that goads a man, no matter how prosperous or powerful, to challenge his chi (personal god).  Such a man, he concluded, only courted self-destruction.

    From fiction to reality, that appears what is happening in Ekiti State, under Governor Ayo Fayose.

    Even if neither Mr. Fayose nor the Police engineered the “impeachment” of the legislature’s constituted order, under Speaker Adewale Omirin, it is strange the governor would present, before a rogue parliament of seven, out of a total of 26, members (not even up to a quorum of nine), the state’s 2014 Appropriation Bill.  Not surprisingly, Fayose’s tag-team partners, in this high constitutional crime, the Police, zestfully aided this brazen illegality.

    Mr. Fayose’s rather infantile exhortation to the rogue “Speaker”, Dele Olugbemi, was even more instructive.

    “Mr. Speaker,” Fayose thundered, “you are the speaker, I say you are the speaker.  I say it again you are the speaker.  I’m saying it with the authority of the governor that the power of the people is greater than those in power.”

    To start with, in Soyinka-speak, does a tiger proclaim its “tigeritude”?  If indeed, Mr. Odugbemi was Speaker, would it not be obvious?  And if it were, would it need the executive to proclaim the obvious — an executive which, in presidential democracy and its strict separation of power doctrine, is nothing but a meddlesome interloper in parliamentary affairs?

    Of course, the excitable and infantile Mr. Fayose wilfully misguided himself, giving himself, even as governor, a power he does not have under the Constitution, purporting to choose a Speaker for the legislature, when he knows a legal and legitimate speaker is in place.

    But even if one could put that down to political rascality, the occasion of Mr. Fayose’s ill-fated statement was political rascality taken too far: the purported presentation of the 2014 Appropriation Bill to the Ekiti Assembly.

    To banish any doubt, the Appropriation Act is about the most important piece of legislation in a democracy.  This is because it focuses on public fund; which a president, a governor or even a local government chairman may not spend, unless and until it is vetted and approved by Parliament, the legal and legitimate representatives of the people.

    Now, if a governor knows this — as Mr. Fayose is supposed to know — and still goes ahead to present the Appropriation Bill to a parliament that he very well knows is fake, is the governor not digging his own constitutional grave?

    And IGP Suleiman Abba’s Police that gifted Fayose the security to commit this brazen constitutional crime, do they not know they aid and abet a serious crime, for which each and every one of them is answerable?

    And how about this for an irony: the same Police that tried in vain to scupper a legitimate sitting of the House of Representatives in Abuja by attempting to shut out Speaker Aminu Tambuwal, were a merry and zealot part of the Ekiti December 15 show of shame, that attempted to clothe brazen illegality with the mail of state security?  Is somebody somewhere trying to scuttle this democratic dispensation; and will the people of goodwill just stay dumb at gawk at this wanton outlawry?

    But after all the heat and passion of politics, the law is cold and clinical:  by this reprehensible act, Governor Fayose has committed a serious constitutional infraction.  That alone, if the law were to be pressed, is an impeachable crime, to which the governor would have absolutely no defence.

    Meanwhile, it is laudable that the Omirin-led Assembly has met and declared the legislative tomfoolery of December 15 null, void and absolutely of no effect.  If Mr. Fayose wants to challenge his constitutional chi, he is welcome to court his own disgrace — it is about time!

    But the legitimate Speaker and the lawful majority in the Ekiti legislature must, post-haste pursue all constitutional remedies to stop Fayose’s in-your-face gubernatorial outlawry.  It is the least to do to preserve the sanctity of this democracy and the sanity of the people.

  • How Fayose tried to force us to join PDP, by Ekiti lawmakers

    How Fayose tried to force us to join PDP, by Ekiti lawmakers

    Nineteen Ekiti State House of Assembly members have told the Federal High Court in Lagos how Governor Ayo Fayose tried to force them to join the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    They said the governor intimidated, harassed and mounted pressure on them to leave the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    In a supporting affidavit to an originating summons by the lawmakers, the Speaker, Adewale Omirin, who was forced out of office, said Fayose employed several intimidatory tactics to force them into submission.

    First, Fayose closed down Omirin’s petrol station and that of other APC members. Second, he declared two of the plaintiffs wanted for no legal reason.

    Third, he denied the plaintiffs their statutory rights and privileges as members of the Assembly.

    Fourth, they suffered “physical attacks through political thugs.” Fifth, Fayose froze the Assembly’s account because the House refrained from deliberating on a matter which was pending in court.

    Six, the governor sacked and removed the plaintiffs’ aides. Seven, Fayose withdrew their official cars and drivers. The governor also sealed the Speaker’s office and took the keys.

    The plaintiffs explained why they had to flee Ekiti to file the action in Lagos.

    “Due to the harassment and threat to the lives of the plaintiffs, and the attitude and actions of the eight defendant (Fayose) and his desecration of justice in Ekiti State, the plaintiffs verily believe that the eight defendants would deploy the machinery of the state to frustrate their recourse to justice in a court of law in Ekiti State,” they said.

    The Inspector-General of Police, Suleiman Abba, the Department of State Security Services (DSS), and the purported “speaker”, Dele Olugbemi, are the respondents.

    Olugbemi was “elected” by seven PDP members of the House after claiming to have “impeached” Omirin.

    Also joined as defendants are members loyal to Olugbemi- Samuel Ajibola, Adeojo Alexander, Adeloye Adeyinka, Israel Ajiboye, Fatunbi Olajide, Olayinka Abeni- and the commissioner of police.

    Three commissioner-nominees purportedly cleared by the House under Olugbemi, namely Oweseni Ajayi (Attorney-General), Kayode Eso (Works) and Toyin Ojo (Finance) were also joined as defendants.

    The plaintiffs, in their originating summons, are praying the court to declare that Omirin and his deputy are entitled to occupy their offices, unless they are removed by the votes of two-third majority of the Assembly.

    They also sought a declaration that the attempt to force them to join the PDP was against their right to freedom of association.

    They want the court to nullify the purported removal of the Speaker and his deputy by seven lawmakers.

    The court was also urged to hold that Olugbemi’s election as speaker was illegal, and all deliberations and actions of the seven PDP lawmakers are invalid and a nullity.

    Among others, the plaintiffs also asked for an order of mandatory and perpetual injunctions restraining the defendants laying claim to offices they were not duly appointed to.

    Omirin, who was elected as Speaker on June 6, 2011, said a team of heavily armed security operatives were deployed to the Assembly’s premises on November 17, and prevented the plaintiffs from conducting their legislative duties.

    While the APC lawmakers were locked outside the gate, PDP’s seven lawmakers were escorted into the Assembly, where they confirmed the nominees and approved the appointments of local government caretaker committee chairmen and members, despite a suit challenging it in court.

    During yesterday’s proceedings, Justice Saliu Saidu declined to give audience to Deacon Dele Adesina , who was in court to argue the case of some of the defendants.

    The judge said the court was not in receipt of any processes filed by the defendants as was claimed by their lawyer.

    “The defendants’ processes are not served on the court and as such cannot be considered for the purpose of this proceeding,” the judge held.

    Justice Saidu adjourned till January 7 for the hearing of the motion on notice and directed the plaintiffs to serve all court processes on the defendants.

     

     

     

  • 67 Ekiti prison inmates rearrested

    67 Ekiti prison inmates rearrested

    •Fayose seeks officers’ sack

    Aixty-seven inmates who escaped from the Federal Prisons, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, on Sunday, have been rearrested.

    Scores of gunmen stormed the Ado-Ekiti Prisons, detonated a bomb and launched an attack that lasted 45 minutes.

    Governor Ayo Fayose told reporters that over 300 inmates escaped.

    Police spokesman Victor Babayemi, who briefed reporters in Ado-Ekiti, said “the very notorious ones facing murder and robbery charges” were among those rearrested.

    Babayemi said the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) leader, Niyi Adedipe, a.k.a. Apase, and the state chairman of the Road Transport Employers Association (RTEAN), Bayo Aderiye, a.k.a. Ojugo, did not escape.

    The spokesman said the Commissioner of Police, Taiwo Lakanu, led a patrol team to a “notorious spot”, where 10 of the escapees were arrested after what he called a “serious exchange of gunfire”.

    He said the escapees were picked up in various parts of the state, noting that efforts were still on to apprehend those at large.

    Those rearrested are to be charged with jailbreak.

    “The CP led a team on Monday night to some of the hideouts and there was an exchange of gunfire. We had an intelligence report on where they were hiding.

    “At that notorious spot, 10 of them were rearrested but no life was lost. But I want to add that investigation continues,” Babayemi said, adding:

    “Operation is still ongoing, the DPOs are still bringing their reports and we have also asked the prison authorities to give us the actual number of the escapees.

    “Some of them said they ran for cover to escape being hit by bullets. Apase and Ojugo did not leave the prison. They were not among the notorious ones rearrested.

    “The attackers opened the cell doors and told them to escape. It was not a natural occurrence; some people are behind the attack. We are investigating it to determine if there was any complicity.”

    Fayose has called for the transfer of all officers of the prison for their alleged negligence and dereliction of duty.

    The governor, during a visit to the facility, was angry with the officials for allegedly allowing inmates access to telephones and other electronic gadgets.

    “The way and manner the bloody attack of Sunday night was successfully carried out without much resistance suggested connivance,” he said.

    Fayose wondered why the prison authorities failed to use the tower at the facility.

    The Commissioner of Police has expressed the Force’s readiness to assist the prison in strengthening security around the premises.

    Lakanu said it was apparent that the combatant men and arms squad unit of the prisons could not alone manage the security situation at the facility.

    Lakanu said the escapee inmates, who were picked up in various towns, such as Ido-Ekiti, Ikere-Ekiti and Ado-Ekiti, were being detained at various police stations across the state.

    The attack has affected court  cases involving inmates at the Magistrate’s Courts and High Courts in the Ado-Ekiti Judicial Division.

  • Ex-council chairmen challenge removal in court

    Ex-council chairmen challenge removal in court

    Former caretaker chairmen of the 16 Local Government Areas (LGAs) and 19 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) in Ekiti State are challenging their removal from office by Governor Ayo Fayose.

    The ex-council officials, who were sworn in on August 8 by former Governor Kayode Fayemi, were removed from office on October 17 through an announcement on the state radio and television.

    A suit was filed at an Ado-Ekiti High Court by Gbenga Omole and 34 others by their counsel, Ibrahim Olanrewaju.

    The plaintiffs are claiming that their tenure would expire on February 7.

    The defendants are the governor, attorney general, speaker of the House of Assembly and the Assembly.

    Among reliefs sought by the plaintiffs include a declaration that their appointment and swearing in was legal and lawful and that their appointment for six months was statutory.

    They are also seeking a declaration that the dissolution of the transition committees by the first defendant was illegal and unlawful and another order restraining the defendants from constituting new transition committees, until the expiration of their tenure on February 7.

    The plaintiffs also prayed the court to reinstate them and restore to them all the rights, perquisites and entitlements of their offices and the payment of their total remunerations and other allowances due to them until the expiration of their tenure.

    The plaintiffs also approached the court for further orders the court may deem fit to make.

    No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.

     

  • Jail break: perpetrators will not know peace -Fayose

    Jail break: perpetrators will not know peace -Fayose

    Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose has condemned the attack on the Federal Prisons, Ado-Ekiti by gunmen saying those who perpetrated the attack will not know peace.

     

    The governor stated this on Monday while swearing-in of the new Head of Service, Mr. Gbenga Faseluka and five Permanent Secretaries.

     

    The new permanent secretaries are Mr. Ademiloye Fasiku, Mr. Ayodeji Ajiboye, Mrs. Olabisi Akindele, Mr. Lawrence Babatope and Mr. Sunday Komolafe.

     

    The immediate past Head of Service, Mr. Bunmi Famosaya, was sworn in as Special Adviser in the Office of the Governor.

     

    Speaking at the event, Fayose described the gunmen who blew up the prisons as “evil people” regretting the escape of many prisoners in the attack.”

     

    “We regret the jailbreak perpetrated by the evil people which led to the escape of many inmates.

     

    “I want you to know that I have the grace of God on me and whoever plans against us shall be destroyed. My prayer is that they will not know peace,” Fayose stated.

     

    Meanwhile, the state police command is collaborating with the authorities of the prisons to arrest inmates who escaped during the attack.

     

    The state police spokesman Victor Babayemi told reporters that the Commissioner of Police Taiwo  Lakanu personally  led officers and men to the scene of the incident on learning about the attack.

     

    Babayemi disclosed that the vicinity of the prisons has been cordoned off while security in and around the place has been tightened.

     

    He disclosed that some of the escapees have been re-arrested while others still at large are being trailed.

     

    Babayemi urged residents not to panic saying the situation has been put under control.

  • It’s all lies, says Speaker as Fayose accuses lawmakers of N200m bribe demand

    It’s all lies, says Speaker as Fayose accuses lawmakers of N200m bribe demand

    •‘Seven PDP lawmakers asked for N200m’

    Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose has said money is at the root of the problems between him and the House of Assembly.

    The governor said his refusal to continue to “grease the lawmakers’ palms” after they had collected money from him at least three times created the latest crisis rocking the Assembly.

    Fayose made the allegation on  his maiden media chat, “Meet Your Governor”, which was aired live by major electronic media in the state.

    He alleged that the lawmakers demanded N1 million each before they could screen and clear his commissioner-nominees.

    The governor alleged that the Speaker, Dr Adewale Omirin, demanded that the lawmakers be given at least 10 per cent of the N2 billion loan his administration intended to secure from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to finance agriculture and small scale businesses.

    Fayose accused the 19 All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers of harbouring plans to remove him from office.

    The governor said he was shocked that the lawmakers could be making “unreasonable financial demands” from him when they knew the parlous condition of the state finances.

    Fayose, who spoke in  Yoruba, said: “The last time I met the Speaker, he told me he was going to Abuja and he promised to see me when he returned but the next thing I heard was that he was in Lagos.

    “It is you my people who can save me because it was by your votes that I am in this position today. You my fathers, my mothers, artisans, okada riders and traders must rise up and help me.

    “Will you keep on looking when they want to remove me at all cost? They are blocking all the good things I want to do for you.

    “When I assumed office, I discovered that the House’s running grant was N48 million of which the Speaker got N2.5 million and the Deputy Speaker N1.5 million and I told them that was no longer sustainable.

    “They insisted that their own grant must be left intact but I reduced their money by 50 per cent.

    “They came to me three times and they went away with something. In fact, they asked that they be given N1 million each before passing the commissioners’ list.”

    But Omirin absolved himself and the 18 APC lawmakers of blame in the bribery saga.

    He said it was the seven PDP lawmakers who demanded N200 million.

    He accused Fayose of lying and setting the people against the APC lawmakers, saying the action could make the governor a laughing stock to the more intelligent people of Ekiti.

    In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Wole Olujobi, the Speaker defended the integrity of the APC caucus, maintaining that it never demanded any bribe before doing the job for which they were voted to do.

    He said throughout former Governor Kayode Fayemi’s administration during which 75 bills were passed into law, the lawmakers never demanded for anything before doing their jobs.

    The Speaker said instead of blaming the seven PDP members for demanding 10 per cent of the N2billion fund, the governor had turned full circle to accuse the APC lawmakers.

    His words: “I have never seen this kind of incorrigible attitude all my life. He told us to our face that he would lie against us to set Ekiti people against us. I thought it was a joke.

    “In actual fact, it was the PDP members who suggested that we should demand 10 per cent cut in the N2 billion loan and all the APC lawmakers said no. We even called the attention of the governor to this attempted fraud.

    “How the governor has now turned to accuse us of demanding bribe is baffling. One good thing though is that Ekiti people know the kind of governor they have.

    “The alleged N1.3billion poultry fraud case is still in court. There were many sugar coated things that he told Ekiti people about the project.

    “Evidence of that lie and allegation of fraud can be found in Justice Adamu Hobon’s court at the Federal High Court in Ado-Ekiti where details of how the governor allegedly defrauded Ekiti people are being examined.”

    The Speaker urged Ekiti people to beware of the masters of theatrics, who have turned statecraft to the theatre of the absurd, where stunts and propaganda had taken the place of reason and candour.

    Omirin added: “I am happy that my colleagues and I have clean records. We have never committed crimes either in Nigeria or abroad.

    “We have no question marks on our certificates. Nobody can accuse us of committing crimes abroad and sneaking into Nigeria to escape justice.

    “We have never been accused of murder. None of us has criminal cases in courts. We are decent men and women who can point to where we are coming from without shame.

    “Nobody can accuse us of lying under oath. None of us has ever covered a copy of dictionary with the cover of the Holy Bible and used it to swear an oath.

    “Nobody can accuse us of swearing to an oath in the filling of our Code of Conduct and assets declaration form.”

    Omirin said the APC lawmakers would continue to tread the path of integrity to save the state from dishonest people.

  • Ekiti to immortalise Olayinka

    Ekiti to immortalise Olayinka

    •Six perm secs sacked
    •New HOS emerges
    •Varsity tuition fees reduced

    Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose has promised to immortalise the late former Deputy Governor, Mrs. Funmilayo Olayinka.

    Fayose has ordered the  reduction of tuition fees at the State University (EKSU), Ado-Ekiti, from N50,000 to N30,000.

    The tuition fee, according to him, could be paid in two installments.

    The governor spoke at his maiden media chat: “Meet Your Governor”.

    He said: “I have reversed your tuition fees from N50,000 to N30,000 and I want the VC to ensure compliance with this directive.

    “You have the opportunity of paying the N30,000 in two installments.

    “I will do everything in my power for you to have good education and we are going to do something to empower the parents.”

    The governor said his administration would build a women orientation centre in honour of the late Mrs. Olayinka for her dedication and service to the state.

    He said the centre would be located at Moremi Park, where the former deputy governor’s remains were interred

    Fayose has sacked six permanent secretaries and appointed four others.

    He also appointed the Permanent Secretary (State Liaison Office, Abuja), Gbenga Faseluka, as the head of service (HOS).

    The outgoing HOS, Bunmi Famosaya, was appointed special adviser in the Governor’s Office.

    The permanent secretaries who were given compulsory retirement are Akin Oso (Government House and Protocol), Alfred Ologuntoye (General Administration), Lekan Ayeleso (Office of Establishment), A.B. Owolabi (Accountant General), Deji Ajayi (Local Government and Chieftaincy) and K.B. Ajayi.

    The new permanent secretaries are Ademiloye Fasiku, Ayodeji Ajiboye, Lawrence Babatope and Sunday Komolafe.

    Explaining his action, he said he could “hire and fire” permanent secretaries.

    Fayose said there was no malice in his action, adding that he reduced ministries and extra-ministerial agencies from 36 to 26 because of paucity of funds.

    “There is no money to manage 36 ministries and agencies. In fact, I am even afraid to appoint more people now because the funds are not there,” he said.

  • Photo: Fayose hanging Ex-Gov Oni’s picture

    Photo: Fayose hanging Ex-Gov Oni’s picture

    Governor Fayose hanging pictures in Government House on Wednesday
    Governor Fayose hanging pictures in Government House on Wednesday
  • Pdp caucus plots to remove Ekiti Speaker

    Pdp caucus plots to remove Ekiti Speaker

    •apc: police are culpable• ’It’s not true’

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) caucus in the Ekiti State House of Assembly, backed by Governor Ayo Fayose, is  strategising to remove the Speaker, Dr.Adewale Omirin, The Nation gathered yesterday.

    This followed the controversial “sitting” by seven PDP lawmakers in the House of Assembly  to “screen” and “clear” three commissioner-nominees.

    The seven PDP lawmakers and three unidentified persons, who posed as lawmakers, also “ratified” Fayose’s list of appointees for chairman and members of caretaker committees for the 16 local governments.

    The commissioner-nominees and caretakers were sworn in on Monday by Fayose, few minutes after being “cleared”.

    A member of the PDP caucus,  Adeyinka Adeloye, said the lawmakers have the constitutional power to impeach the Speaker and change the House leadership to “reflect the present realities in the state”.

    Speaking in an exclusive chat with The Nation yesterday, Adeloye who represents Ikole 1 Constituency, said the lawmakers were constitutionally empowered to “change, arrange, re-arrange, align and realign the leadership of the Assembly”.

    Adeloye, who was one of the six All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers who defected to the PDP, said the people  should expect a change of leadership in the House to alter the power configuration of the state.

    He added that the House’s standing order recognised the power sharing arrangement of the principal officers –in line with the senatorial districts they come from.

    According to him, Omirin’s continued stay as Speaker is no longer sustainable, following Fayose’s emergence as governor.

    The lawmaker said Omirin, who is from Ekiti South Senatorial District, would have to go since the Deputy Governor, Olubunmi Eleka, is also from the same senatorial district.

    Adeloye said: “You know that the governor is from Central, the deputy governor from the South and at the same time, the Speaker is from the South.

    “The House has the power to change leadership and there is no novelty about this. Remember the Second Assembly had four Speakers and the Third Assembly had two and if this happens again, it is not something new.

    “But the whole thing depends on the leadership of the Speaker. If the Speaker has the acumen, the creativity, he can still hold fort. We were in the APC together before and he should not be crying foul now.”

    Adeloye denied the allegation that the PDP lawmakers had been bribed to impeach Omirin.

    He claimed that their action at Monday’s plenary was in tandem with the wishes of their constituents.

    “This is the aggregate preference of our people, 26 House members against the will of the people? I want to tell you that I was an APC man to the core; in fact, I voted for Fayemi at the last governorship election but the people of my constituency said they want me to go to the PDP.

    “The people of my constituency voted for Fayose that is simply indicating that they wanted change and the bribery issue  does not arise at all,”Adeloye added.

    When asked whether or not the  PDP lawmakers’ action  could stand, the lawmaker said: “Let them go to court; the House can regulate itself. In the absence of the speaker and the deputy speaker, we have the right to appoint a speaker protempore to preside and that was what we did.”

    The police have denied complicity in Monday’s “sitting”.

    Police spokesman Victor Babayemi absolved the command of blame.

    Babayemi said the police did not take sides with any of the contending parties “but was carrying out its constitutional and statutory functions of forestalling the breakdown of law and order”.

    The police spokesperson  denied the allegation by the APC  that its lawmakers, who heard of the illegal sitting, were turned back by mobile policemen deployed in  the Assembly complex.

    He refuted the claim that armed policemen and PDP lawmakers held the Clerk of the House, Tola Esan, hostage and forced him to surrender the mace with which the “sitting” was carried out.

    Babayemi said: “We have nothing to do with the mace or its custody.

    “It is not correct to accuse the police of any complicity in what transpired at the Assembly because all what we were doing was to ensure that there was no breakdown of law and order.

    “The policemen who were at the Assembly complex on Monday were there to perform their duties.

    “We are always proactive because when we see any problem coming, we always try our best to avert them.

    “All these happenings call for serious concern. I want you to know that we have a police post at the Assembly complex but we had to deploy more personnel to forestall any breakdown of law and order.

    “And on our part, we are doing our best that there is no breakdown of law and order.

    Responding to a question on why some APC lawmakers were allegedly prevented from entering the Assembly on Monday, Babayemi said the police had no reason to do so because “they are not partisan”.

    “The allegation that we prevented some people from entering the Assembly complex is not true.

    “We are not siding with any party, all we are after is maintenance of peace and prevention of breakdown of law and order.”

    The State APC Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, said the police cannot exonerate themselves from the “illegality” carried out on Monday.

    Olatunbosun, who featured on a live interview programme on ADABA 88.9 FM, Akure, which was monitored by our correspondent yesterday, said the police were culpable for giving security cover to a  “sitting” that contravenes the constitution.

    He said the alleged partisanship of the police encouraged the desecration of the Assembly by the PDP lawmakers.

    Olatunbosun, a former Commissioner for Information, said Ekiti was sliding into chaos and anarchy.

    He decried what he called the “decimation of the Judiciary and the Legislature” in the state.

    The APC spokesman said the purported sacking of the Speaker’s  aides was an unprecedented illegality.

    He said the action means that the governor can sack the aides of the chief judge.

    Olatunbosun said the blackmail of the APC lawmakers by Fayose’s loyalists set the tone for the latest crisis in the state.

    He insisted that the allegation that the 19 APC lawmakers were bribed was sheer blackmail that was illogical and untrue.

    Olatunbosun said: “Blackmail is the stock in trade of Fayose  and his followers and we are not surprised at all.

    “His knack for blackmail has no limit and if he and his supporters are blackmailing the APC lawmakers, we are not surprised.

    “There are rules and procedures guiding screening and ratification of nominees by the House.

    “Fayose’s commissioner-nominees were not screened, their resumes were not scrutinised and we don’t know if their credentials are genuine.”

    The APC Vice Chairman in Ekiti South Senatorial District, Kayode Babade, who also spoke on the programme, said with the sealing  of the Assembly, showed that Ekiti was under siege.

    He maintained that the governor lacked the power to sack the aides of the speaker and the deputy speaker because the House was immuned from the control of the Executive.

    “Fayose must produce the three unidentified persons who impersonated the lawmakers.

    “The prevention of cameras to cover the proceeding was  illegal because it is  in the rules of the House that every procedure must be recorded.

    “The latest situation in Ekiti portends retrogression for our dear state, lack of peace and there can be no development and since this man became governor, it has been needless controversies and crisis.”