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Tag: Ekiti crisis

  • Impeachment: Court accepts Ekiti APC lawmakers’ application

    Impeachment: Court accepts Ekiti APC lawmakers’ application

    A Federal High Court in Lagos on Thursday accepted the application for discontinuance of suit filed by 19 All Progressives Congress lawmakers in Ekiti State, challenging the impeachment of Speaker Adewale Omirin.

    Justice Saliu Saidu while striking out the suit marked FHC/L/CS/1823/14, and filed against the Governor, Ayodele Fayose and 13 others for their alleged role in the impeachment of Omirin and his deputy, Adetunji Orisalade, awarded N100, 000 cost in favour of the defendants.

    The plaintiffs had on April 7, filed an application through their lawyer, Norrison Quakers (SAN), seeking to discontinue their case against Fayose, the seven People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP) lawmakers and others, over the ”’unlawful” removal of Omirin and Orisalade on November 20 last year.

    Joined as the defendants along with Fayose,  Dele Olugbemi and Olayinka Abeni were the Inspector General of Police, the Commissioner of Police in the state and the Department of State Service.

    Others include the three commissioners cleared for appointment by the House under Olugbemi’s leadership and the five other PDP lawmakers in the House.

    The plaintiffs among other things, sought an order restraining the factional Speaker of the House, Olugbemi, and his deputy, Abeni, from either parading themselves as or executing duties in the capacity of the leaders of the House.

    The plaintiffs’ move to discontinue the suit was objected by the defendants who argued that the matter should rather be dismissed, since it has filed its statement of defence.

    Counsel to the defendants, E.O. Afolayan, representing his principal Femi Adesina (SAN), prayed the court to dismiss the suit because “it is the proper thing to do.”

    He urged the court to dismiss the case in order to foreclose any future representation of the matter by the plaintiffs.

     

  • We won’t participate in politically-motivated strike – Ekiti workers

    A section of workers in Ekiti State public service has vowed not to participate in any politically-motivated strike intended to drag them into the politics of impeachment currently rocking the state.

    Acting under the aegis of Enlightened Workers’ Forum, they asked for the payment of outstanding salaries, bonuses and other entitlements owed them by the state government.

    In a statement issued on Friday by the Forum’s Coordinator, Mike Bamidele, they warned Labour leaders against colluding with politicians to engineer a strike to frustrate the impeachment proceedings already launched by the 19 All Progressives Congress lawmakers in the state.

    They called on the state councils of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Joint Negotiation Council (JNC) to concentrate on fighting for the interests of the workers rather than dabbling into partisan politics.

    The Forum called on the unions to drop the garb of politics and exert pressure on the Ayo Fayose administration to pay worker’ salaries, leave bonus and accumulated pensions and gratuities of retirees.

    It further charged the unions to champion the implementation of 2013 and 2014 outstanding promotions.

    The Forum also warned the state government against reducing workers’ salaries over shortfall in allocation from the Federation Account.

     

  • Why we shunned Ekiti peace meeting – APC lawmakers

    Why we shunned Ekiti peace meeting – APC lawmakers

    The 19 All Progressives Congress members of the Ekiti State House of Assembly said they shunned the peace meeting brokered by Chief Afe Babalola and other elders because they believe Governor Ayo Fayose was not ready to have the crisis resolved once and for all.

    The lawmakers said they are not comfortable with the security arrangement of 200 policemen said to have been made to protect them into and out of Ado-Ekiti which, according to them, had given away the motive of the meeting.

    The APC lawmakers wondered why the peace effort 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.

    The lawmakers in a statement issued on Thursday by the Special Adviser (Media) to the Speaker, Wole Olujobi, said their resolve on the rule of law and defence of the Constitution should not be subsumed under the need to pay them their entitlements which was one of the resolutions agreed at the meeting.

    They said: “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.”

    Picking holes in the entire arrangement for the meeting, the lawmakers wondered why the governor was announcing the peace meeting intermittently on the state media while secretly mobilising Peoples Democratic Party members from the 16 local government areas in the state 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.

     

  • Ekiti crisis: Fayose shifts ground, APC lawmakers shun peace parley

    Ekiti crisis: Fayose shifts ground, APC lawmakers shun peace parley

    Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, has agreed to make concessions to ensure the resolution of the power struggle between him and the All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers.

    Fayose said “if not for experience he had garnered as a second-time governor, his government would have become a history.”

    The governor made the remarks on Thursday at a peace meeting brokered by Ekiti elders led by eminent lawyer, Chief Afe Babalola.

    He also accused the media of stoking the fire of crisis rocking the state, saying Ekiti does not deserve the uncomplimentary headlines being cast on the impeachment saga.

    The meeting which held at Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), was shunned by the APC lawmakers led by Speaker Adewale Omirin who alleged plots to arrest them and keep them out of circulation until the end of their tenure in the first week of June.

    Four of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmakers led by factional Speaker Dele Olugbemi attended the peace meeting.

    Other elders who joined Babalola on the high table include Chairman, Standing Committee, Ekiti Council of Elders, Chief Deji Fasuan; former Minister of National Planning, Chief Ayo Ogunlade and former Secretary General of Yoruba Council of Elders, Dr. Kunle Olajide.

    Despite the absence of the APC lawmakers, the elders resolved to continue with the peace meeting in which they reiterated their call on the warring factions to embrace peace.

    The ABUAD campus witnessed an overwhelming presence of armed policemen and operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS)

    Fayose said the experience of his ouster from office in 2006 was brought to bear in “protecting the mandate given to him by the electorates “saying his calling for peace to resolve the raging crisis was not out of cowardice but to show the character of a leader.”

    While acknowledging appeals from well-meaning personalities urging him to see himself as the father of the state and ensure the resolution of the crisis, Fayose said he won’t look on and allow the opposition to rob him of the mandate of the people.

    Fayose said: “I am not a first-time governor, I am better informed now to know the difference between the executive and the legislature.

    “If not for experience, the PDP government could have become a history. The difference between the last time and now is the experience I have to navigate through the crisis.

    “The last time, they came and took off my neck, should I look on for them to cut my head again? No.”

  • APC petitions NSA over security threats in Ekiti

    Due to what it called “a sudden jump in security threats shortly after Governor Ayo Fayose was declared winner of the June 21 governorship poll,” the state chapter of theAll Progressives Congress (APC) has petitioned the National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd).

    The party claimed in the petition made available to The Nation on Monday that the alleged security threats reached the peak when suspected party thugs invaded the state High Court beating up judges and tearing court records in the Chief Judge’s chambers.

    The petition was also forwarded to President Goodluck Jonathan, Inspector General of Police Suleiman Abba, Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Ekiti State Director of DSS and Commissioner of Police, Ekiti State.

    According to the petition signed by Ekiti State APC Chairman, Chief Olajide Awe, some police officers who worked with Fayose during his first stint in power and who were indicted by the report of a Presidential Security Investigation Panel that investigated killings in the state during the period have now returned.

    Awe expressed outrage that the return of the indicted police officers has constituted a serious threat to security in the state which, according to him, had worsened since Fayose’s inauguration on October 16.

    The APC chairman alleged in the petition that Fayose made a special request for redeployment of the said policemen that formed the nucleus of a “killer squad” in Ekiti State between 2003 and 2006 as confirmed by the Presidential Security Panel Report on Political Killings in Ekiti State.

    Awe called for the immediate redeployment of the policemen from Ekiti State if they must remain in the Force at all, urging the police to stop supporting illegalities “as seen in their support for the seven Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmakers while same were denied the 19 All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers.

    The party boss regretted that since the arrival of the policemen in the state, the activities of unknown men visiting the homes of the APC leaders at night, particularly the APC lawmakers, had increased.

    He also urged the authorities to provide equal treatment for all citizens irrespective of their political affiliations.

     

  • Ekiti: APC raises alarm over PDP lawmakers’ sitting

    Ekiti: APC raises alarm over PDP lawmakers’ sitting

    … Speaker not impeached – Fayose’s aide

    The All Progressives Congress has raised an alarm over alleged acts of impunity in Ekiti State, where only seven members of the House of Assembly reportedly conducted a plenary on Monday morning.

    The party in a statement issued in Abuja on Monday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said over 200 armed policemen are currently offering protection to the seven PDP members of the House, who convened purposely to impeach the Speaker, approve the list of Commissioners-designate as well as the Caretaker Committees for the local councils in the state.

    The state government however in a statement by a Special Assistant to Governor Ayo Fayose, Lere Olayinka, claimed that nine members met and approved the appointment of local government caretaker committee members.

    He said the House also confirmed the appointment of three commissioners and empowered the governor to appoint 12 Special Assistants.

    “Nine members of the House sat today (Monday). There are 26 members in the House and nine formed quorum and can still sit to take decisions. No impeachment of the Speaker.”

    But the Special Adviser to the Speaker, Wole Olujobi, stated that the governor provided about 300 policemen escorted by armoured cars to lead seven members of PDP to conduct a sitting in the House.

    “House does not sit on Mondays. Mondays are for parliamentary. The seven members do not form a quorum to have legal right to sit in the plenary, which of course does not hold on Monday.

    “By this action, Governor Fayose is dragging our state to the mud. Let us call Ekiti to verify this claim as policemen lay siege to the Assembly Complex,” Olujobi said.

    Mohammed in his statement said, ”The issue of the Caretaker Committees, which Governor Ayodele Fayose plans to swear in on Monday after the illegal approval by the House, is sub judice, hence the House cannot even discuss it not to talk of acting on it.

    “Also, while the Governor was advised by the Clerk of the House that seven members out of 26 do not form a quorum, he said after all, only eight of 24 members in the Plateau House of Assembly impeached then Governor Joshua Dariye in 2006!”

    ” APC also warned that while a lot of unconstitutional and illegal activities have taken place under the PDP-led Federal Government, including the impeachment of then Governor  Joshua Dariye of Plateau State by only eight out of 24 members of the State House of Assembly, any decision taken by only seven PDP members in the 26-member Ekiti House of Assembly will not stand.”

     

  • Photos of the week

    Photos of the week

  • Ekiti crisis: Arrest, prosecute Fayose now – APC

    Ekiti crisis: Arrest, prosecute Fayose now – APC

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday called for the immediate arrest and prosecution of Ekiti State Governor-elect, Mr. Ayodele Fayose for  allegedly leading  thugs to beat up a Judge and then instigating his supporters to attack and burn down the opposition’s secretariat in the state.

    In a statement in Lagos, National Publicity Secretary of the party, Alhaji Lai Mohammed,  said since Mr. Fayose does not yet enjoy any immunity from arrest and prosecution, he should immediately be arrested over  ”the dastardly and barbaric attack, which represents an attack on justice and on the rule of law, and the violence that has gripped the state.”

    The party  said every time a judge is  attacked anywhere in the world, the attackers have been jailed to serve as a deterrent to others who may want to take the laws into their hands, adding: ‘’The case of the thuggish Fayose should not be different.’’

    APC said it is particularly  necessary to act fast to prevent anarchists and crude individuals from taking the laws into their hands and tampering with the administration of justice, especially because the attack on Justice John Adeyeye came a few days after pro-Fayose and pro-PDP thugs invaded a courtroom in the state and beat up litigants, among others.

    It said the clear message being sent out by the PDP is that it is ready to resort to self help to capture and govern any state, especially in the South-West where the PDP’s desperation has forced it to put forward reprobates as governorship candidates.

    ‘’Even though Mr. Fayose has not assumed office, he has succeeded in taking Ekiti State back to Egypt within a few months of his ‘election’. Not only are judges being attacked, the kind of killings and chaos that characterised his first time in charge of the state have already started. He is struggling hard to ensure that Ekiti is no longer in the league of states where disputes are settled in courts, instead of on the streets, and judges preside in the administration of justice.

    ‘’The disgusting attacks on the administration of justice in Ekiti has shown the truism in the aphorism ‘show me your friends and I will tell you who you are’. Nigerians now know the company the PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan keep and what the party  and the President truly are.

    “The Fayose that is leading thugs to attack a Judge in Ekiti is the same man that President Goodluck Jonathan, as the leader of the PDP, heartily campaigned for. He is the same man who has called himself the overall leader of the PDP in the South-West. He is the same man who has gone on television to justify the court attack. Indeed, a leopard really cannot change its spots.”

    The APC said while Ekiti State Police Commissioner Taiwo Lakanu did well by rushing to the venue to help restore order after the Judge had been beaten up on Thursday, the overall role of the police in the two attacks was shameful.

    It said: “According to published reports which have yet to be refuted, police personnel stood by while litigants, lawyers and other citizens were being mauled by rabid PDP thugs in the first attack, and again seemed powerless as Justice Adeyeye was being manhandled and his suit torn until the Police Commissioner arrived at the scene. If this is not an act of collusion, then it is a case of unacceptable gross incompetence for which those security agents must be brought to book.

    ‘’If the police are no longer willing and able to carry out their constitutional duties of protecting the lives and property of the citizenry, then anarchy looms.’’

    It said Nigerians must brace up for a hellish time in the hands of the PDP from now on till next year’s general elections, considering that the party’s thugs are also alleged to have killed several people in Lagos recently after a PDP rally attended by President Jonathan.

    ‘’During his recent trip to New York, President Jonathan assured the international community that next year’s elections will be conducted in accordance with global best practices. Well, it is now clear that the President’s assurances are not worth the paper on which they were written, going by the actions of his party members. Global best practices do not include beating up Judges, lawyers and litigants!

    ‘’How can elections be free, fair and transparent in a lawless society? How can elections be credible when policemen are taking sides with the ruling party? How can elections be violence-free when candidates being put forward by the ruling party are ready to engage in jungle justice? We can only call on the international community to maintain a keen interest in events in Nigeria in the days and weeks ahead, if only to show the ruling PDP for what it truly is: an enclave of anarchists and dead-enders!’’