Tag: Dr. Adewale Omirin

•Govt: it’s all lies

The Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Dr. Adewale Omirin, has raised the alarm on alleged plans to attack the 19 All Progressives Congress (APC) members for their stance in the crisis rocking the legislature.

Omirin, in a statement yesterday by his Media Adviser, Wole Olujobi, alleged that hoodlums had been mobilised to attack the lawmakers over last Thursday’s plenary in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.

The Speaker claimed that hoodlums, allegedly backed by the government, had begun a manhunt for the APC lawmakers “for refusing to be cowed by those wielding transient powers”.

But the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led administration described Omirin’s allegations as “tissue of lies”.

It called on the lawmakers to return and apologise to Governor Ayo Fayose and the people.

The Special Assistant to the Governor on Information, Lanre Ogunsuyi, said: “The lawmakers must swallow their pride and return to the state to perform their legislative functions.”

Omirin claimed that a plot had been allegedly hatched to frame  the APC lawmakers, if the first plan fails.

He said:  “Part of the game-plan is to smash the cars officially allocated to the members, which we are paying for from deductions in our salaries.

“In cases where practicable, the cars are to be forcefully snatched from the lawmakers in a makeshift robbery scene.”

Omirin added that the governor was creating conditions for criminals to thrive.

His words: “The governor has reduced security vote to security agents, thereby making it almost impossible for security agents to perform their duties.

“If we observe well, Ekiti people will note that all the check-points manned by the Army have been deserted because the governor has refused to fund their activities.

“That is why in the last one and half months, criminal activities, including jail break, have taken place in Ekiti State.

“Ado-Ekiti streets no longer enjoy light at night because the governor has refused to release money for fuel.”

Omirin said the governor should be held responsible if anything happened to the APC lawmakers.

But Ogunsuyi absolved Fayose of all the allegations.

He accused the APC and its lawmakers of encouraging crimes. He did not say how.

The aide said Fayose was ready to work with the APC lawmakers as long as they are ready to work with the executive.

He said making unfounded allegations would not help them, noting that since they had taken their case to the court, they should wait until it makes a pronouncement.

“They are trying to make peace through the back door, let them apologise to the governor and the people.

“They took their case to  court, and when you take your case to court, you wait.

If you can’t wait for your suit to be decided upon, then you are immature.

“The governor is making a lot of sacrifices and that is why he is running the state with only three commissioners because there is no money to pay more commissioners.

“They should call a truce, they should stop amplifying dissent. Nobody has any plan to attack them and all their allegations are lies.”

 

•Deputy Speaker alleges threat to life

Speaker of Ekiti State House of Assembly Dr. Adewale Omirin has refuted the government’s claim that the All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers will invade the state and unleash terror.

Omirin’s comment followed a report on state media, alleging that the 19 APC lawmakers were planning to storm the state yesterday with thugs.

The Speaker in a statement by his Special Adviser (Media), Wole Olujobi, said the allegation by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administration was a ploy to implicate the APC lawmakers and set the people against them.

Omirin said the accusation smacked of dishonesty, stressing that the governor should be blamed for any breakdown of law and order.

He said the PDP-led government’s style was to accuse its opponents of what it was planning to do, urging the people to ignore the allegation.

His words: “We would not have reacted to the lie if not that Ekiti people do not know how the PDP-led government operates.

“Close observers of PDP’s politics know that when its leaders want to cause trouble and implicate the opponents in the process, they would accuse the opponents of exactly what they intend to do and on the day they would carry out the plan, they will travel out of town and unleash aides to carry out the plan while the aides in turn plead alibi for their leaders.

“Can Ekiti people remember Adelusi’s statement on August 12, 2006 when he said a security report indicated that a popular politician would be killed to implicate his party? What happened to a popular politician on August 14, 2006 in Ijan-Ekiti?

“Of course, Dr. Ayo Daramola who was contesting the governorship election with his boss was killed. He was on a familiar terrain. This is the same way Adelusi “got a security report” today that Omirin was bringing thugs to Ekiti to cause mayhem.

“This is the same Adelusi who said the 19 APC lawmakers are Osun and Lagos lawmakers, who impersonated Ekiti lawmakers. What will Adelusi not do in his brinkmanship?

“No one is deceived by this old trick of blaming opponents for the offence they know nothing about. We know that the government is planning exactly what it is accusing Omirin of.

“It smacks of dishonesty and lack of integrity in governance process when you set a process in motion to punish a man for an offence he did not commit.

“How can you ask people to join you in moving the state forward and you are at the same time setting traps and erecting roadblocks on their way?

“We know exactly what the government is planning. It wants to instigate a crisis that will lead to the closure of the House of Assembly. The plan is to import thugs into the state like the government did last Monday to demonstrate against the Speaker.”

The Deputy Speaker, Adetunji Orisalade, raised the alarm on the invasion of his house in Ilogbo-Ekiti, Ido/Osi Local Government Area by unknown people.

Orisalade, in a text message to our reporter, alleged that eight persons stormed his house in Ilogbo-Ekiti at 8.37pm looking for him.

The text reads: “Eight men in black suits were at my house in Ilogbo-Ekiti, Ekiti State, at 8.37 pm to look for me.

“They questioned and threatened my farm assistant on my whereabouts”.

 

The Speaker of the Ekiti State Assembly, Dr. Adewale Omirin and 18 All Progressives Congress (APC) members have vowed not to return to the House, “unless Governor Ayodele Fayose and the police can guarantee our safety and security”.

Speaking on the phone with reporters in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, Omirin urged stakeholders and indigenes to appeal to Fayose to enable them return.

The Speaker said the lawmakers who returned to the state, including the Deputy Speaker, Adetunji Orisalade, last week, were pursued by unknown gunmen.

Omirin’s words: “It is Ekiti people who should beg the governor to allow us to return. We are ready to do our work. The assembly is under siege. Nobody is going to risk his life by coming there now.

“The coast is not clear. We are ready to return to the Assembly and perform our constitutional duty. But the government does not want us to come back.

“As soon as the governor guarantees our security we shall return to the state. I’m a peace loving person, I don’t want crisis.”

On the need for the APC members to meet the minimum of 181 days sitting as required by the Standing Order of the House, Omirin maintained there were no hard and fast rules about such, noting the House had the latitude to adjust rules if exigencies compelled such.

The factional speaker, Dele Olugbemi, said the forum of Speakers of State Assemblies had no power over issues of constituent state assemblies, noting it was impossible to reject whoever the Assembly chooses as its speaker.

He said: “The so-called speakers forum is a committee of friends, a speaker in Edo or Sokoto or anywhere in the country cannot dictate to us in Ekiti assembly who to elect as the speaker.

“They have to recognise me, if they don’t recognise me, I will stop the money that go from here to the forum. Anyway, we are not aware that they said so.”

Police commissioner Taiwo Lakanu said he has directed the Divisional Police Officer to investigate Omirin’s allegation.

“We hate propaganda and we don’t want to be involved. We received a compliant of attack and I have asked the police to investigate

The Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Dr.  Adewale Omirin, said ysterday that he remained the legally and legitimately elected Speaker.

He warned about the consequence of returning the state into the dark era characterised by thuggery, arson, intimidation and the repression of the opposition.

The Speaker said if anything happens to any of the 19 APC members, the governor should be held responsible.

Omirin, who spoke with reporters in Lagos, said the pro-Fayose lawmakers who “removed” him could not form a quorum, wondering why they were thriving in illegality.

The Speaker, who was accompanied by 18 lawmakers, said the injustice would be redressed in the temple of justice.

He said: “My attention has been drawn to the breaking news from Ekiti State that Dele Olugbemi is now the speaker. I, Dr. Adewale Omirin, remain the Speaker, based on the mandate of the House given to me.

“Seven members of the House cannot form a quorum. I can only be removed by 18 members, not even 17 and half members. What they are doing is totally illegal.

“How can the governor appoint aides for me? The House of Assembly is independent of the governor. No governor will appoint aides for the Speaker and the Chief Judge. We have a maximum ruler in Ekiti.

“Electricity supply to my lodge was cut off. I was put in total darkness. A letter from the governor withdrew my aides, drivers and that of the Deputy Speaker and the Majority Leader.

“We are law abiding citizens. We will not depart from the rule of law. If the governor wants to work with us, we are ready to work with him.”

At the briefing were Deputy Speaker Adedeji Orisalade (Ido/Osi Constituency 11); Majority Leader Churchill Adedipe (Irepodun/Ifelodun); Alabi Idowu (Ise Orun); Ade Ajayi (Oye 1); Kayode Fasakin (Ekiti West 11); Daramola Yomi (Ikere 1); Gbenga Odebunmi (Ekiti West 1) and Olajide Olaniyi (Moba).

Others are Ayodeji Odu (Irepodun/ Ofelodun 11); Ojo Ogunrinde (Ekiti East 1); Clement Adu (Ikere Constituency 11); Seyi Shittu (Ado 1); Gabriel Ogundele (Efon);  Kehinde Boluwade (Emure); Segun Erinle (Ilejemeje); Peter Tope (Ekiti Southwest 1); Wumi Oguntola (Ijero) and Bunmi Oriniowo (Ido/Osi).

Omirin reiterated the determination of the “Group 19” to remain in the APC, despite their travails, maintaining that they were ready to weather the storm.

He said: “19 members are in the APC. We will not defect from the APC.”

Orisalade lamented the turn of events in Ekiti. He said the Commissioner of Police was tired of the political situation, adding that he had complained to the governor that it could be handled differently without creating tension.

The lawmaker recalled that, few days ago, policemen dispersed the 19 lawmakers at a meeting in Akure, the Ondo State capital, where they had relocated when their lives were threatened.

Dismissing the appointment of new principal members  as a ruse, Orisalade added: “I remain the Deputy Speaker. No sitting can take place without the directive of the Speaker. It is illegal by virtue of the House Standing order. You cannot put anything on nothing. Seven people cannot convene a meeting of the House of 26 members.

“The Majority Leader, the Deputy Majority Leader, the Chief Whip and the Deputy Chief Whip are here. The Clerk cannot convene the meeting of the House. Only this sitting of 19 members can remove principal officers and we are not thinking about that.  We will fight them with the law. We will not engage in sub-standard behaviour. Ekiti is being intimidated. Ekiti is in captivity.”

He stressed: “Only Samuel Ajibola and Dele Olugbemi are PDP members. The remaining five are just PDP sympathisers. The ceremonial defection outside the House is not in the record of the House. It is not part of our proceedings. The five members have not defected according to our rules.

Adedipe said: “What were the police doing on this matter? We have called the Commissioner of Police. But, they have not cleared the miscreants from the House. We cannot sit in an atmosphere of insecurity. We want to prevent loss of lives. The police in Ekiti are now an appendage of the PDP and the governor. The Commissioner of Police has said that he is helpless. We urge the Inspector General to take action.”

On the alleged plot to impeach the governor, he said it was an imagined concept, stressing that Fayose was troubled by pre-conceived thoughts and ideas.

“We have no plan to impeach him. What offence would he have committed in two weeks? It is a political drama orchestrated by the governor to whip up sentiment. We are not planning any impeachment. If we are going to impeach Fayose, he will be impeached by his activities and not by the activities of the lawmakers.

“We are worried that he has no respect for the constitution. When his attention is directed to this, he reacts violently.”

The Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Dr. Adewale Omirin, has maintained that the seven Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) legislators who “sat” to ratify three commissioner-nominees failed to form the quorum needed to hold a valid sitting of the legislative chamber.

Omirin, in a statement by his media aide, Wole Olujobi, said the seven PDP lawmakers at the sitting did not meet the quorum of nine members that would have validated their action.

He listed the PDP members who sat, including six All Progressives Congress (APC) members who defected to the PDP on inauguration day as: Hon. Ajibola Samuel- Ekiti East II,  Hon. Adeojo Alexander- Ekiti,  South West II, Hon. Adeloye Adeyinka- Ikole I, Hon. Israel Olowo Ajiboye, Hon. Fatunbi Olajide J. A -Moba II,  Hon.  Olugbemi Joseph Dele- Ikole II and Hon. Olayinka Modupe Abeni- Ado II.

Omirin faulted the argument of the Minority Leader, Mr. Samuel Ajibola, on the appointment of a protem speaker, saying before a protem speaker is appointed to sit in the absence of the Speaker, a letter must be written to the Speaker to that effect.

It is only when such a request is approved that a protem speaker is appointed to conduct the business of the day, said Omirin, who added that the condition was not fulfilled before the PDP members and three unknown individuals proceeded  with the “sitting”.

He alleged that the Clerk of the House, Mr. Tola Esan, was forcibly taken to his office by the seven PDP lawmakers assisted by armed policemen and party thugs where the mace was taken away to conduct an illegal sitting.

Omirin said: “We have heard of the reckless abuse of the constitution from other states like stories in the movies, but today, before our very eyes, Governor Fayose provided seven members of PDP with 300 armed mobile policemen, complete with armoured vehicles, to conduct a plenary in the House of Assembly to approve the reconstitution of the council care-taker committees and confirmation of the commissioner-nominees without the 19 members of the All Progressives Congress in attendance.

“The prelude to today’s event was well established, details of which were published in the media. The first attempt was when they planned to storm the House with thugs to attack APC members with the aid of security agents to change the leadership of the House.

 

 

“The plan was foiled when it leaked. The second attempt was planned at Spotless Hotel owned by Governor Fayose where top members, both in Ekiti and outside Ekiti, met to plan what was carried out this morning. The governor did a follow-up with threats and coercion, including freezing the accounts of the Assembly, cutting of electricity supply to the Speaker’s Lodge and stopping statutory votes for the Speaker’s upkeep and protocol.”

The Speaker said though they did not succeed in changing the leadership of the House because they did not have the number,  seven members that fell short of the required nine to form a quorum sat to illegally approve the reconstitution of the local government caretaker committees, including confirming the appointments of the commissioner-nominees who were never screened as required by the law.

Omirin explained that before the House can sit if the Speaker is not available, by law,  majority members will write to the Speaker for the need to sit. If approved, a speaker protempore  is appointed to conduct the business of the day. Besides, Ekiti State House of Assembly does not sit for plenary on Mondays.

He added: “Monday, according to the House Standing Rule, is for the Parliamentary where reports by members from their constituencies are reviewed and agenda set for the week’s sittings at the plenary. But, against the rule of the House, seven PDP members, led by armed policemen and thugs, bundled the Clerk of the Assembly to his office and at gun-point forcefully removed the mace from his office to illegally conduct the plenary where they approved the reconstitution of the care-taker committees in the councils and confirmation of the commissioners.

“To demonstrate that police had interest and were actively involved in this constitutional breach, they used their trucks to block entrances to the Assembly Complex, preventing members of APC who had one business or the other to do in the House of Assembly from entering the place. Electronics media were prevented from covering the sitting while selected print media reporters were allowed in.

“We in the All Progressives Congress (APC) are law-abiding and responsible Nigerians. We have been playing our constitutional roles and we will continue doing that to lift Nigeria as a responsible member of the international community where the rule of law is supreme.”

The Speaker of Ekiti State House of Assembly, Dr. Adewale Omirin, has advised Governor Ayodele Fayose to stop trading in blackmail and face serious business of governance for the benefit of Ekiti people.

Reacting to reports of alleged plot to frame him up for crimes he knows about as a way of putting him out of circulation, Omirin alerted Nigerians of this devilish plot saying plans were rife to arrest him for alleged criminal offences.

He also spoke on the report on the state television station EKTV to the effect 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 through his Special Adviser on Media, Wole Olujobi, said the report allegedly sponsored by the governor is nothing but the hallucination of a serial law breaker, who has chosen blackmail to kill the institutions of government to receive undeserved public sympathy.

Saying that he would not have reacted if not that the unsuspecting public could be deceived by the report, Omirin said he was nowhere near Lagos of recent and so he had no contact with reporters to make that unfounded comment.

ý”The governor’s agents are on familiar terrain of subterfuge. They had fabricated many ridiculous lies to deceive Nigerians to gain public sympathy. He employed blackmail alleging bribery by the judges to bring the judiciary to its knee. He cowed the parliament through blackmail and accused the lawmakers of demanding for bribes to clear his commissioner-nominees. Insistence by members to follow due process of screening drew a reprisal by freezing the accounts of the Assembly,” the Speaker said.

He added, “All Nigerians are monitoring the proceedings at the Ekiti Election Petition Tribunal in Abuja. Damning reports of alleged fraud were established at the hearings and discerning Nigerian public know the truth about Ekiti election matter. He had opportunity to defend his certificate forgery and perjury allegations but he refused to come to the tribunal becuase he was afraid to enter the witness box for cross-examination,” Omirin said.

 

 

The Speaker added that as usual, the governor has systematically begun the process of blackmailing the tribunal judges over alleged selling off the judgment to APCý.

“He is doing this to sell a dummy to the world that APC already knows the outcome of judgment to be in its favour. Unfortunately, the state media are being used for this unfortunate propaganda. ýAll Nigerians are being put on notice about this evil plot,” Omirin said.