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Tag: Ekiti lawmakers

  • Six held for murder of Ekiti lawmaker

    The Police in Ekiti State have arrested six suspects who allegedly killed a member of the House of Assembly, Hon. Michael Adedeji.

    Adedeji, a People’s Democratic Party (PDP) lawmaker that represented Ekiti southwest constituency II, was shot in the head by the robbers on August 10, 2018 along Onigaari, GRA, Ado Ekiti capital city.

    The suspects were paraded by Commissioner of police Asuquo Amba, in Ado Ekiti on Tuesday.

    According to Amba, the suspects also killed one Kayode Omowaye when they raided OJAS Pleasure Hotels in Oye Ekiti on August 10, 2018.

    The police chief added the robbery gang also invaded Afe Babalola university junior staff quarters and snatched a car belonging to one Mrs. Bosede Ojo.

    Amba listed the murder suspects as Dele Obamoyegun, Idowu Sunday, Adeniyi Eunice, Leye Ojo, Akindahunsi Damilola and Olaosebikan Babatunde.

    The CP said the suspects were arrested by police officers at Safer highway in front of Ekiti State University gate, Iworoko Ekiti during a routine stop- and -search duty.

    The suspect leader, Dele Obamoyegun said: “We shot him (Adedeji) after robbing him. He did not struggle with us but one of us shot him. I have to confess, we didn’t know he was a lawmaker”.

    Read Also: Couple nabbed for killing woman, selling children

    The CP pointed out Dele’s mother, Bola Obamoyegun, was the one accepting and concealing stolen items for the gang led by his son.

    “Dele’s mother was the one concealing stolen items for them. As we speak, two of her children had been convicted for robbery and this to us was a failure of motherhood. Our parents must learn how to make their children responsible,” he said.

    He said exhibits recovered from the suspects included cut -to -size barrel guns, 17 live cartridges, 75 handsets, seven laptops, cash sum of N147,000, fourstolen vehicles, one of them belonging to the late Omowaye, among others.

    Amba said the case was under investigation after which the suspects would be charged to court for conclusive prosecution

  • Ekiti lawmakers hold sitting on highway to back Fayose

    Ekiti lawmakers hold sitting on highway to back Fayose

    Ekiti State lawmakers yesterday caused a stir in Ado-Ekiti by holding plenary on a major highway to support embattled Governor Ayo Fayose. Fayose is being investigated for alleged money laundering by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    The anti-graft agency has alleged his complicity in the receipt of N1.2 billion of N4.7 billion set aside for the governorship election in Ekiti and Osun states by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).

    The cash, said the EFCC, is part of the funds meant for the purchase of arms to fight Boko Haram.

    The lawmakers converged on Okesa roundabout where they mounted canopies to hold their sitting. Before their arrival about 11am, the area was cordoned off by policemen.

    Twenty-three of the 26 legislators, who are members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), participated in the session, which they described as a “sit-out”.

    Traffic was diverted to one lane of the highway. The lawmakers carried placards, stating their support  for Fayose.

    They accused Lagos lawyer Femi Falana and Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters Femi Ojudu of being the masterminds of an alleged plot to impeach Fayose. The legislators claimed that Falana and Ojudu were nurturing governorship ambition.

    Some of the placards read: “No matter your media trial and blackmail, on Fayose we stand”; “APC, Falana, Ojudu using EFCC against Fayose because of their guber ambition”; “We are ready for arrest, we cannot be intimidated” and “Leave Fayose alone”, among others.

    The Clerk, Tola Esan, was present at the sitting, which was conducted without the mace, the legislative symbol of authority.

    Speaker Kola Oluwawole alleged that 10 of the lawmakers had been pencilled down for arrest on Thursday (today) on what he called “trumped-up charge of not having valid certificates to contest election into the Assembly.”

    He said: “We embarked on this sit-out because we were duly elected by Ekiti people. We want to tell the world that we are determined and resolute to support Fayose.

    “No amount of blackmail will make us to do dirty job. We call on the APC-led government to leave Fayose alone. The freezing of his account is condemnable.

    “We are aware of plans to arrest 10 members of the Ekiti State House of Assembly. We are ready for arrest. We stand by Fayose, enough is enough. Let there be peace in Ekiti, let Abuja leave Fayose alone.”

    House Committee on Health Chairman Samuel Omotoso accused the Federal Government of “flippancy and double standards” in its prosecution of anti-corruption crusade, saying the legislators are ready for arrest.

    He said: “There are double standards and flippancy in the so-called anti-corruption war. When you are in PDP, you are a demon, but when you run to APC, you become a saint.

    “They are doing selective anti-corruption crusade. The DSS disobeyed a court order and this amounts to lawlessness. They should come and pick us. Even when we are dead, we will not impeach Fayose.”

    Chairman, House Committee on Information Gboyega Aribisogan alleged that the Federal Government was planning an emergency rule in Ekiti. He fingered Falana and Ojudu as masterminds of the plot.

    Said Aribisogan: “They are planning another emergency rule in Ekiti State. Falana and Ojudu want to be governor by all means, but we want to tell them that we Ekiti people don’t want another emergency rule.

    “Ekiti people don’t want another impeachment; they can’t coerce us to Abuja to sign an impeachment notice. They are planning to turn Ekiti into a battleground; they are planning to kidnap House of Assembly members. Let them wait till 2018.”

    Deputy Speaker Segun Adewumi said: “Ekiti people are behind Fayose. We have not run away as being speculated and we will not run away. We have left Egypt since 2006 and we will not go back to Egypt because we are here by the benevolence of Fayose.”

    Chairman House Committee on Chieftaincy Matters Mrs. Titilayo Akerele alleged that she received calls from unknown people, who threatened to kidnap and kill them.

    Her words: “I kept receiving calls threatening assassination and kidnap. They should plead with this (APC) government to fight corruption with a human face and respect human rights. The legislative arm in the country should not be silenced.”

    Deputy Chief Whip Dayo Akinleye debunked the rumour that the lawmakers had fled to Dubai and South Africa, saying they preferred to rot in jail than to be coerced into an impeachment plot.

    House Leader of Business Tunji Akinyele said: “Ekiti State House of Assembly is never on the run. We are here in Ado-Ekiti waiting for them. What they did in 2006 will not work this time.

    “The 2006 impeachment notice was signed on the table of the (then) EFCC chairman. APC has been rejected in Ekiti State and in 2018, it will be rejected again.”

  • Photos: Ekiti lawmakers stage a protest

    Photos: Ekiti lawmakers stage a protest

    Placard-carrying Ekiti legislators staging a street protest shortly after conducting their plenary on the highway at Okesa area of Ado Ekiti on Wednesday. PHOTO: ODUNAYO OGUNMOLA
    Placard-carrying Ekiti legislators staging a street protest shortly after conducting their plenary on the highway at Okesa area of Ado Ekiti on Wednesday. PHOTO: ODUNAYO OGUNMOLA

     

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  • Ekiti lawmakers cancel plenary

    Ekiti lawmakers cancel plenary

    •APC slams Ozekhome over comment

    There was lull in government activities in Ekiti State yesterday, few days after some members of the House of Assembly and other appointees of Governor Ayo Fayose were either invited or arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS).

    A good number of commissioners and senior government officials stayed away from work as activities in their offices were at a low ebb.

    Some members of the House of Assembly showed up and held their usual parliamentary meeting but they cancelled a plenary session already scheduled for the day.

    Although the lawmakers, led by Speaker Kola Oluwawole, did not give reasons for the cancellation of the planned plenary where they would have passed another vote of confidence in Fayose, a source said “the environment was not conducive for such a session”.

    The source said: “I believe they did not hold the emergency plenary as planned because the environment was not conducive for such. Some lawmakers on the DSS wanted list have gone underground and the fear of the unknown still looms large.”

    Rights lawyer and activist Morakinyo Ogele has said the arrest of the government officials was in order and a signal that the era of impunity, lawlessness and rape of constitution is over.

    Ogele, who spoke with our reporter in Ado-Ekiti, said no matter how long it takes, the law would catch up with all those “who committed heinous crimes against the state and thought that the day of reckoning would never come”.

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) berated a lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, for accusing President Muhammadu Buhari of involvement in the arrest.

    The party regretted that a known advocate of truth, civil rights and a defender of constitutionalism is fast losing steam over “rabid partisanship that has eroded his flowery credentials while defending falsehood founded on rumours”.

    Reacting to Ozekhome’s allegation in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, the party accused the senior lawyer of engaging in spreading falsehood, regretting that the civil right advocate is fast losing focus as a defender of truth while protecting people thriving in criminality and falsehood.

    “With his hasty and partisan outburst, Ozekhome has only portrayed himself as a busy-body commenting on a matter he knows nothing about,” the APC said.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Panel report: Ekiti lawmakers allege plot to ‘assassinate’ Fayose

    Panel report: Ekiti lawmakers allege plot to ‘assassinate’ Fayose

    •Pass ‘double confidence vote’ in governor

    Ekiti State House of Assembly lawmakers have alleged a plot by the Federal Government to assassinate Governor Ayo Fayose, if moves to remove him from office fail.

    The lawmakers at yesterday’s plenary alleged that they had uncovered a plot to use the report of an Army Board of Inquiry that investigated the conduct of soldiers in the June 21, 2014 governorship poll to sack Fayose from office.

    Led by Speaker Kola Oluwawole, the 26 lawmakers, who are all members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), accused President Muhammadu Buhari of being a dictator and attempting to muzzle the opposition.

    They claimed that the alleged plot to unseat Fayose was to silence the voice of “the leader of opposition” and cause chaos, confusion in the Fountain of Knowledge.

    The lawmakers said Ekiti people would resist any attempt to tamper with the mandate given to Fayose.

    Legislators passed what they called “a double vote of confidence” in Fayose and declared their loyalty to him.

    Members who took turns to condemn the alleged plot against Fayose included Deputy Speaker Segun Adewumi (Ekiti West 1); Ekundayo Akinleye (Ijero); Samuel Omotoso (Oye 1); Dele Fajemilehin (Gbonyin); Gboyega Aribisogan (Ikole 1); Sina Animasaun (Ekiti West 2); Mrs. Cecilia Dada (Ilejemeje); Sunday Akinniyi (Ikere 2) and Badejo Anifowose (Moba 2).

    Oluwawole and Aribisogan claimed that the APC government at the centre would use assassination as the last resort if other options to remove Fayose fail.

    Oluwawole said: “Nothing negative should happen to Fayose because they may resort to the use of other means, including assassination.

    “Our human rights activists have suddenly gone under the table; it’s a bad signal to our democratic process.

    Aribisogan said: “Fayose has become a thorn in their flesh and they want to use frivolous and unwarranted Military Panel report to muzzle him and any attempt to harass and embarrass him will be resisted.

    “We have heard from the grapevine that if all other efforts fail, they will attempt to assassinate the governor.”

    House Leader Tunji Akinyele (Oye 2) moved the motion for the adoption of an eight-point resolution condemning the report of the Military Panel chaired by Major General Adeniyi Oyebade.

    The motion was seconded by Abiola Jeje (Ido/Osi 2).

  • Ekiti lawmakers pass Appropriation Bill

    Ekiti lawmakers pass Appropriation Bill

    Ekiti State lawmakers yesterday passed the 2016 Appropriation Bill into law, six days after Governor Ayo Fayose presented it.

    Last Wednesday, Fayose presented a budget proposal of N67 billion.

    The budget was passed after the chairman of the Committee on Finance and Appropriation, Samuel Jeje, presented his report yesterday.

    Deputy Leader Adeniran Alagbada moved the motion for the adoption of the report, which was unanimously approved by all the lawmakers.

    Speaker Kola Oluwawole said the budget was passed quickly because the lawmakers were involved from the beginning.

    Two other bills- State Kidnap and Terrorism (Prohibition) Bill 2015 and Office of Public Defender Bill 2015- were also passed.

    Few hours after the budget bill was passed, it was brought to Fayose at the Executive Chambers of the Governor’s Office for his assent.

    Others bills signed by the governor include: State Regency Bill; State 2015 Revised Appropriation Bill; State College of Technical and Commercial Agriculture Repeal Bill; State Office of the Defenders Bill and Kidnap and Terrorism Prohibition Bill 2016.

    Fayose directed Oluwawole to send copies of the budget to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission for monitoring.

     

  • EX-PDP lawmaker chides Fayose over threat to Assembly members

    EX-PDP lawmaker chides Fayose over threat to Assembly members

    Former People’s Democratic Party (PDP) lawmaker in Ekiti State House of Assembly, Omoniyi Ajaja, has slammed Governor Ayodele Fayose over threat to new PDP members in the Assembly to either be loyal to him or face “political death.”

    He said the governor’s boast that PDP legislators who participated in his 2006 impeachment were dead politically was empty, explaining that many among those who supported the impeachment later held prominent political positions while others were doing very well in their various private callings.

    Fayose had warned the new lawmakers at their inauguration last Friday, boasting: “Impeach me, risk political death, those that impeached me in 2006 had died politically today.”

    But Ajaja in a chat with reporters on Tuesday faulted the governor’s claim, saying he was a former member of the Second Assembly, a Chief Whip, yet he remained one of the pillars of Ekiti State politics today.

    “I am still very active and alive to political issues not only in Ekiti but also in Nigeria as a whole. Likewise majority of the Assembly men that served at that time are equally still relevant in the politics of the state,” he explained.

    He said the governor should be reminded that the House of Assembly remains an arm of government which enjoys its independence like the Judiciary and the Executive, explaining that it is the constitutional duty of the Legislature to keep the Executive on its toes to check its excesses.

    “If any governor is found wanting in the discharge of his constitutional duties, it is the duty of the Legislature to checkmate him.

    “The governor’s statement last week during the inauguration of the sixth Assembly that those that impeached him in 2006 had died politically is uncalled for, especially coming from an elected governor. He should be reminded that each of the Assembly men represents his/her constituency and that they are equally elected like the governor,” he said.

    He added: “Since 2006, some of the lawmakers that participated in the impeachment had held various positions in other administrations which came after Fayose. Politics should be seen to be dynamic and not a business of an individual as being displayed by Mr. Fayose.

    “Only members of the Fifth Assembly in Ekiti State who the governor claims are his stooges and that the assembly is an extension of the Governor’s office may find it extremely difficult to call him to order anytime he commits constitutional breaches.”

     

  • Advice for Ekiti lawmakers-elect

    Advice for Ekiti lawmakers-elect

    House of Representatives members-elect  from Ekiti State have told members of the fifth House of Assembly  to be  loyal to the state and Governor Ayo Fayose to ensure peace, progress and development.

    In a statement,  the six members-elect- Ayo Oladimeji, Segun Adekola, Akin Awodumila, Olamide Oni, Thaddeus Aina and Kehinde Agboola- said the incoming lawmakers must serve the people.

    The lawmakers-elect who are all members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) advised their colleagues to take a cue from the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    “Please, don’t lead the state to crisis. Always remember your past. Let the fate of the APC lawmakers serve as a lesson to you.”

    The National Assembly members-elect said the  incoming lawmakers should always remember the ladder with which they climbed up.

    “The in-coming lawmakers should remain loyal to the state and the governor, on whose back they rode to the House of Assembly,” they said.

  • Ekiti lawmakers begin N70m free health mission

    Ekiti State lawmakers have earmarked N70 million for the seventh free health mission (FHM), which starts today in 13 of the 26 constituencies in the state.

    House of Assembly Speaker Adewale Omirin told reporters in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, that the lawmakers pooled a fraction of their constituencies’ funds for the project.

    Omirin said: “Free health mission remains a viable means of reaching the people and making useful impact on their lives. The health mission is part of the constituency projects of the Assembly members, but is being executed by the state government.

    “We decided not to take the constituency fund in cash from the state government because it is illegal for legislators to execute projects. “Project execution is a function of the executive arm. Apart from that, we do not want to be embarrassed like some lawmakers, who were being chased around by anti-graft agencies in the past for alleged poor execution of projects. Hence our resolve to allow the government execute the project.”

    Commissioner for Health Prof. Sola Fasubaa decried the low patronage of the 35 primary health centres by rural dwellers and urged the people to visit them whenever they are ill.

    He said: “The government has invested huge cash in the health sector, especially primary health care centres, and patronage of the health centres would ensure that the investment is not wasted.”

    Urging residents to take advantage of the free health mission, Fasubaa advised expectant mothers to register for antenatal and post natal care to reduce maternal and infant mortality.

    He said the FHM is a cost effective means of providing quality health care services at the grassroots, which can increase life expectancy.