Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose has stopped the payment of running grant and other allowances of political office holders, pending the payment of all outstanding salaries and allowances of public servants.
According to the Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, the governor took the decision as a temporary measure to make fund available for workers’ salaries and allowances.”
•Illegalities in the house of assembly are a frightening development that should not stand
Once again, impunity, subversion of the democratic order and brazen illegality have become the order of the day in Ekiti State since the Ayodele Fayose administration was inaugurated. It seems the “one-trouble one-day” syndrome that prevailed during the governor’s first tenure is back again.
The show of shame exhibited by a minority of the lawmakers on Monday is an indication that the way forward in the state may be paved with thorns. A few members of the House of Assembly were said to have met in cloudy circumstances to consider requests from the state executive. In order to ensure that the majority was locked out of the deliberation, scores of heavily armed riot policemen, complete with armoured vehicles were said to have been mobilised to get the job done.
How many lawmakers sat? The opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) that controls majority of the seats put it at seven. This was corroborated by the Speaker, Adewale Omirin. The men who perpetrated the act said they were 10, while spokesman for the state governor, Mr. Idowu Adelusi, said they were nine.
In all the accounts, the notorious fact is that a minority chose to impose its will on the majority and the state at large. Citing Order 27 of the House Rules, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmakers said they were empowered to elect a Speaker pro-tempore to preside over affairs in the absence of the Speaker. They also pointed out that a third forms the quorum to do legislative business. As such, they claim that the decisions taken were valid, legal and binding.
But, Mr. Omirin said they chose to give the wrong interpretation to the constitution and the House Rules. One, it has been pointed out that while nine could, in extra-ordinary circumstances form a quorum, it needed the approval of the Speaker to sit. Two, if only seven sat as alleged, then they did not even form a quorum and it would make all decisions taken null and void. Three, the request to reconstitute the caretaker committees for the 16 local councils had earlier been rejected by the House sitting full-strength on the ground that it was sub-judice, a fact that has not been controverted by the recalcitrant lawmakers.
It is not strange to democracy that different political parties control different arms of government. At the moment, the Republicans have taken control of the United States’ Congress. When former Governor Kayode Fayemi was installed in 2010, the assembly was controlled by the PDP, yet, the two arms found a way to work harmoniously. The buck stops at the desk of the Chief Executive who is also the Chief Security Officer to ensure that the business of government is transacted smoothly at all times.
We call on Governor Fayose to retrace his steps and ensure that democracy is made to thrive in the state. A glimpse of what could be the hallmark of the administration emerged before its inauguration. A sitting court was sacked and the judge beaten by hoodlums supposedly with the then governor-elect around. The circumstances are now being investigated by the police and the National Judicial Council (NJC).
So, the judiciary operates in an atmosphere of pervading fear, and now, the legislature has been subverted. The beneficiary, even if it is Pyrrhic victory, is the executive arm of government.
On Monday, the minority PDP legislators approved three commissioners, the appointment of 12 special advisers and the reconstituted transition bodies for the local councils. The commissioners who were screened and approved within one hour have since been sworn-in and assigned portfolios. They are the attorney-general and commissioner for justice, as well as commissioners for finance and works.
We are bothered about the possible clash of the two factions of the legislature, the untoward and partisan use to which the police is being put and the poor quality of governance this could foist on the state.
We therefore call on Mr. Fayose and the PDP to rein in the importunate legislators in the interest of peace and good order.
A group, Ekiti Youth Vanguard (EYV), has condemned the “endless” complaints of bias against the judges handling the perjury case instituted by E11 group against Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose.
It said this portends great danger to the administration of justice in the state.
Justice Olusegun Ogunyemi, who is the fourth judge to quit the case, alleged threats to his life and members of his family.
EYV’s spokesman Charles Fakunle said: “The Chief Judge, Mr. Justice Ayodeji Daramola, was the first to handle the case. Fayose complained that Justice Daramola was biased.
“The case was transferred to Justice Abodunde, yet it was the same complaint before it was transferred to Justice Ogunyemi. Again the same allegation was raised against the third judge.
The group wondered why all the judges in Ekiti State should be biased against an indigene, if that individual does not have problems with his integrity.
Fakunle added: “Fayose’s supporters disrupted Ogunyemi’s court when he assumed jurisdiction to try the case. The judge was rough-handled by thugs; windows and furniture in the court were smashed.
“A few days later, thugs were led to the court where Mr. Justice Adeyeye, lawyers and other court officials were beaten. Official records in the Chief Judge’s office were torn and his secretary beaten.
“This is intimidation of the judiciary to be followed by blackmail of the judges to escape justice. Is it in the Mars that an unbiased judge will be found to try this criminal case in Ekiti State? “
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has criticised the reduction of the state ministries from 24 to 14 by Governor Ayodele Fayose.
It said such policy would lead to loss of jobs and morale among workers.
In a statement by its spokesman, Taiwo Olatunbosun, the party criticised the policy in what it called “systematic disengagement, dislocation and dismantling of the civil service from a functional civil service to a task force civil service”.
Olatunbosun said: “At inauguration, Governor Fayose reversed the appointments of eight permanent secretaries, thus making those who replaced them return to their former lower positions.
“This is an unwarranted demoralisation of the top echelon of the civil service that is central to the faithful implementation of government’s programmes.
“The present reduction in the ministries will create chaos in the civil service top cadre, as many senior officers won’t find spaces in the present arrangement while about 500 workers will lose their jobs.
“Instead of expanding government’s operations to take in more of our jobless youths, Ekiti people are being thrown into the saturated labour market.
“This is a great disservice to the people who were promised life abundant by the governor during his campaign.
“The governor cannot claim that the state does not have money to pay salaries and emoluments.
“Former Governor Kayode Fayemi demonstrated in the last four years that there was no need to downsize the civil service.
“It will be a great disservice to Ekiti people if after deceiving them, they are now being thrown out of their jobs.”
The party lambasted the governor for taking the September federal allocation to pay October salaries.
“We want Ekiti people to know that Fayose is full of deceit. He has been in the media painting his predecessor black that he owed workers two months’ salary.
“Technically, Dr. Fayemi did not owe any salary. If, as alleged, his administration owed September salary and he left government on October 15 while the allocation for the same September was received by Fayose, then common sense requires that the incumbent pay the workers September salary with September allocation, while anticipating October allocation.
“It is on record that Fayemi, in his four years, didn’t owe any salary until Fayose emerged governor-elect and harassed banks not to transact business with the Fayemi administration.
“Ekiti workers should ask the governor why he now finds it difficult to pay their September salaries, despite having received September’s allocation and over N10 billion owed the state by the Federal Government.”
•Ex-governor asks successor to stop blackmail
Former Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi has urged his successor, Ayodele Fayose, to stop his “cheap blackmail and comical acts” and probe his administration’s transactions between October 2010 and October 2014.
Fayose had said the government would probe the previous administration’s financial dealings.
He said: “It would not be wrong to look into its (Fayemi’s administration’s) books and accounts.
“We want to state categorically that all those who have defrauded this state will be made to refund every kobo that they stole. Those who shed the blood of innocent Ekiti sons and daughters will face the wrath of the law.”
Fayemi, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Olayinka Oyebode, said the new government should get its act together, have an understanding of the state’s finances and financial regulatory matters.
He said: “Ekiti citizens deserve to know what the administration did with state fund during my tenure and we are prepared to appear at a probe panel (if and when it is set up) within 24 hours of notice.
“Instituting a probe into the financial transactions of the administration, we believe, is a better option for the administration, instead of its recourse to falsehood, cheap blackmail and propaganda as an excuse for its ineptitude and lack of direction.
“We make bold to say that the Fayemi administration took all its decisions in the best interest of the people and followed due process as well as financial regulations in all its dealings.
“It is sad to note that three weeks in the saddle, the Fayose –led administration is yet to chart a direction for the state or come up with a blueprint for its programmes.
“All that the administration does daily is to invent fresh excuses for its ineptitude.
“Governor Fayose has in the last three weeks put the state’s debt profile at six different figures. From N89billion to N57billion, to N91 billion, to N69billion, to N82billion and lately N86billion.
“More pathetic is that even mundane issues such as the treasury activities of the Office of the Accountant-General are being arrogated by an idle government as a main focus of a probe.
“Our advice: stop chasing shadows, be mature and concentrate on the onerous task of governance. Institute the probe.”
The governor, who spoke through the Special Assistant on Public Communication and New Media, Lere Olayinka, said efforts would be made to update the public on the financial dealings of the administration.
Olayinka, at the briefing, alleged that part of the latest discovery was “a N5 billion loan which he said Fayemi obtained from Ecobank barely two weeks to the June 21 election without the approval of the Debt Management Office”.
“As at today after repaying N15 billion from the N25 billion and N922 million from the N5billion taken from Ecobank, the government is still owing N26 billion.
“The N20 billion is with accumulated interest of N13 billion; the N5 billion is with accumulated interest of N3.6 billion.”
A group, Ekiti Youths Vanguard (EYV), has urged Governor Ayodele Fayose to engage the youth in productive ventures.
It said his “stomach infrastructure” stunts portend great threat to productive living among the people.
The group condemned the governor’s plan to spend Friday nights in beer parlours as a mark of solidarity with the masses.
Its spokesman, Charles Fakunle, said it was not in beer parlours that the governor could address poverty among the masses.
Fakunle said: “Is it in beer parlours alone that the governor can meet the people to solve their problems? What of their farms, workshops, trading shops, learning centres and union associations’ offices?
“Why not take a census of these groups and create funding schemes for them to improve their trades and grow their businesses?
“Is it while people are under alcoholic influence that they can plan worthwhile schemes?How much will the governor spend on the masses?”
The EYV spokesman said it was unfortunate that Fayose has no programme other than schemes to build a band of youths who would not be sober enough to plan their future.
SIR: In the last few weeks, the Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has dissipated so much energy trading words with his predecessor, Kayode Fayemi, over how Ekiti State, has been badly run and why things are bound to go from bad to worse. Almost on a daily basis, the media is awash with how state resources have been wasted on white elephant projects, mismanaged and channeled into wrong use thus portraying the last administration as being wasteful, insensitive, ‘after self comfort’ and terribly corrupt.
Ordinarily, one should not be too surprised by such actions as politicians are used to raising false alarms, discrediting their opponents and showcasing what they perceive as the dark side of their political rivals and hopefully, garner public sympathy.
While it is completely not out of place for a new government to appraise the situation on ground with a view to working towards effective service delivery and good governance, the way Fayose is going about his seems to be completely different.
The governor should turn a new leaf in the interest of his people, avoid unnecessary distractions, jettison primordial sentiments and face the enormous task of governance. This is not what Ekiti needs now.
He should reconsider his approach, leave rhetoric and settle down for work. Time is fast running out. He could investigate the affairs of the last administration if Fayemi truly has any case to answer. Afterall, the former governor has offered to defend himself when the need arises.
Lastly, the governor should show more decorum in his public engagements. Or, how do we explain what played out a few days ago when the governor reportedly wept after prostrating for primary and secondary school teachers for not abandoning him since his impeachment in 2006 ?
This is simply unbecoming, Mr. Governor!
• Adewale Kupoluyi
Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta,
The Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, has defended the new office created by his administration.
Addressing Journalists at the national secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party, Thursday, in Abuja, Fayose said stomach infrastructure is a social security.
The governor, who likened stomach infrastructure office to what is obtainable in Britain, said the office will address the welfare needs of the people of Ekiti State.
He said, “I have set up a department and I have appointed Special Adviser and Personal Assistant on Stomach Infrastructure and same will be in all the local government areas. So, my style without apology is that stomach infrastructure is a way of life for me, I will relate well with my people to alleviate poverty and hunger.
“Stomach infrastructure is very important in the life of a man. If you look at Britain, as rich and as comfortable as they are, in the entire time, they find their way to address the issue of the poor and less privileged people in their country by what they call social security.
“Food is a social security, you can’t be talking to a hungry man, he would be distracted by any means. So, when we say stomach infrastructure, it is a welfare programme, a programme that would keep the heart of a man stable.”
Fayose further noted that the indigent in the state will benefit from him during the Christmas celebration.
“Christmas is coming and I have started grooming chicken, buying rice, yams, plantain, and the rest of them, I am sure if I give it to families during the festive period, they will be happy. So, stomach infrastructure is a way of life,” he added.
Commenting on why he condemned the governors lodge occupied by the immediate past governor of the state, Kayode Fayemi, he said, “The welfare of the people in a society and environment of poor people matters and that is why I condemned the governor building a house of N3.3billion for his personal comfort, it is not nice and it does not make sense.”
SIR: Since the re-election of Ayodele Fayose as the governor of Ekiti State in the June 21 gubernatorial election, the phrase, “stomach infrastructure” has become a common lexicon in the political space. Fayose defeated the incumbent governor, Kayode Fayemi, in an election that was keenly contested. His victory was attributed to the distribution of food items – referred to as stomach infrastructure.
Fayose’s stomach infrastructure agenda cannot be seen to be an effective way of exterminating poverty from among the people. It is a cruel act of making the people dependent on his administration for survival instead of being self-reliant. The popular maxim says “give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”. Fayose’s role is to ensure that his administration provides a conducive environment for the people to enjoy in terms of jobs for thousands of the unemployed youths in the state; empowering the women as well as working out plans to give soft loans to farmers that food may be available in the land. Distributing food items to the people will only encourage idleness since they know that government would always be responsible for that.
When Pa Adedibu died in Ibadan, many people reportedly wept and wailed in his house for many days, not because of the love they have for him, but because of the fact that there would no longer be free food for them after his demise.
There is hunger in the country no doubt, and I’m not against reaching out to the poor but it is better done by empowering the people to fend for themselves. It is not all about food distribution. There are many talented youths with viable business ideas but lack initial capital to start their small scale businesses. It will be a welcome development if such people are encouraged by availing them of loans to start with. By the way, how many people would be beneficiaries of stomach infrastructure?
The governor should invest massively in education, agriculture; construct good roads networks that will make it easy for farmers to transport their farm produce to the cities. Ensuring stable power supply is one of the ways through which business would thrive thereby advancing the economy of the state. Fayose’s administration will do well to partner with expatriates for massive industrialization in the state which will go a long way in reducing unemployment among the youths. This should be the focus of his administration. This would benefit the people of the state more than stomach infrastructure.
• Peter Agosu
Ijanikin, Lagos
Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose has again criticised the Government House built by ex-Governor Kayode Fayemi.
The Ayoba House is one of the legacy projects of the administration, which was inaugurated by Nobel laureate Prof Wole Soyinka.
Fayose’s Special Assistant on Information and social Media, Mr Lere Olayinka, described the project as an act of insensitivity to the plight of Ekiti people.
He told reporters in Ado-Ekiti that no progressive- minded Ekiti man would be happy with the luxury provided with the N3.3billion borrowed fund.
Olayinka, said Fayose “would have preferred to sell off the property and use the fund to provide basic amenities and employment opportunities for the people.
He said if he had won a second term, Fayemi was planning to buy a helicopter adding that; “the plan was for Fayemi to run government from the comfort of Oke-Ayoba Government House and move from there to anywhere he wanted without the people seeing him. That’s also the reason he (Fayemi) refused to renovate the Governor’s Office, leaving it in a state of disrepair because he knew that he was not going to use the office during his second term.”
“Also, contract for the maintenance of the property was already awarded for N150m per annum.”
“People should ask the outgone governor what was really wrong with the abandoned governor’s lodge used by his (Fayemi) predecessors?
“Shouldn’t such funds expended on the hilltop edifice have been used to resuscitate the moribund textile factory in Ado-Ekiti that was turned to lock-up shops to provide employment for our teeming unemployed youths?
“Also, was Fayemi living in that manner of opulence before he became governor? Was he sleeping on a body-massaging bed and bathing in an electric controlled Jacuzzi?
But Fayemi’s media aide, Mr. Yinka Oyebode, said: “It sounds silly and more of comedy of errors. I have gone on a tour of that place and I don’t think I have seen such.
“I don’t know where they got their figure from; it sounds absurd. I will advise them to stop this theatre of the absurd, government is a serious business and I am appealing to them not to reduce it to a joke or a circus. They are turning Ekiti into a circus show and they should stop it. It is childish and puerile for them to come up with such figures. There is nothing ostentatious about that. The lodge is there as property of state. Whether Governor Fayose stays in it or not, it is his cup of tea.
“The Ayoba Villa is a legacy project. The ex-governor didn’t go with the house to Isan-Ekiti; it is for the state and not about personal aggrandisement. It is a befitting one for the state. Go to other states and see their governors’ lodges, befitting.”