The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Ekiti State House of Assembly

  • Alleged travel ban: Fayose petitions NHRC, UN, others

    Alleged travel ban: Fayose petitions NHRC, UN, others

    Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose has petitioned the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) over claim that the Federal Government has placed travel ban on him.

    The petition filed on his behalf by the state’s House of Assembly also complained about the alleged refusal of an agent of the Fed Govt, the Department of State Services (DSS) to obey a Federal High Court judgment, ordering it to pay N5 million damages on the illegal arrest and detention for 18 days of a member of the House, Afolabi Akanni.

    The National Assembly, Amnesty International, Embassies of the United States and the United Kingdom were also copied with the petition.

    Fayose had recently written to Chinese government, urging it to refuse financial aid to the Nigerian government.

    The petition signed by the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Kolawole Oluwawole, was submitted Tuesday in Abuja, to NHRC’s Executive Secretary, Professor Bem Angwe, who assured that his commission will investigate the petition.

    The Deputy Speaker, Ekiti State House of Assembly, Segun Adewumi who submitted the petition, was accompanied by the Chairman, House Committee on Information, Gboyega Aribisogan and Chairman House Committee on Health, Dr Samuel Omotoso.

    The petition reads; “We write to bring to your attention another impending infringement on the rights of the Governor of our State, Mr Ayodele Fayose and by extension the entire Ekiti by the Federal Government.

    “A few weeks ago, our governor was reliably informed that President Mohammadu Buhari had directed that he should be banned from traveling outside Nigeria. This reliable information was to be confirmed through reports in two major national dailies on Sunday, May 29, 2016 titled; ‘2 govs under watch, face travel

    “From our findings, one of the governors being referred to is our own governor, Peter Ayodele Fayose and we wish to state like we have always done that we, the members of Ekiti State House of Assembly are with the governor on everything that he does.

    “Even ordinary Nigerians do not require clearance from the Department of State Services (DSS) or any security agency to travel outside Nigeria unless in compliance with court order, and as at today, there is no court order placing travel restriction on our governor, Ayodele Fayose. Issues concerning Governor Fayose cannot even be entertained in any court by virtue of the immunity he enjoys as provided in Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

    “We however know as always that this latest plot is as a result of our governor’s critical stance on President Mohammadu Buhari’s government and its anti-people’s policies, and we make bold to say that no amount of intimidation, harassment and oppression will cowed the governor from exercising his fundamental rights to freedom of expression and to hold opinions as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended).

    “We are aware that this is coming as a result of the failure of the President Buhari led APC government’s plot to use the DSS to coerce the House of Assembly members into the plot of removing the governor.

    “We are also aware that plot to out-rightly take the governor ‘out of circulation’ cannot be ruled out as those advising President Buhari are said to be of the opinion that our governor has become a threat to his (Buhari) re-election bid and that everything must be done to ‘whip the governor to line’ before 2018.

    “Going by the antecedents of the President Buhari-led Federal Government of Nigeria and the DSS under the President’s kinsman, Alhaji Lawal Daura, it is certain that there is nothing that cannot be attempted, no matter how unlawful.

    “It should be recalled that this same DSS invaded the hallowed Chamber of the House of Assembly in our State, abducted our member, Hon Afolabi Akanni and kept him in detention for 18 days without access to anyone. Even when the court ordered that he should be released, the order was ignore. Up till today, no explanation was given for this arrest and detention.

    “It should also be recalled that on April 20th, 2016, the Federal High Court, Ado-Ekiti, in Suit No. FHC/AD/CS/7/2016 ordered the DSS to pay a sum of N5 million to Hon Afolabi Akanni as damages for what the court termed unlawful, illegal and unconstitutional infringement of his fundamental rights. Up till today, that judgment has not been obeyed by the DSS.

    “It is therefore on the premise of display of arrogance and contempt for the laws of the country by the DSS under President Buhari that we elected to bring this latest plot to place Governor Ayodele Fayose on travel ban to your attention.

    “It is worrisome that the federal government will consider the idea of compelling a sitting governor in Nigeria that enjoys Constitutional Immunity like the President to obtain clearance from the Director General DSS, who is an appointee of the President before travelling out of Nigeria.

    “This to us is an affront on the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended) more so that States, as federating units in Nigeria are not under the Federal Government, which itself is also a State and not superior to other federating units.

    “Section 35 (1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) provides that; ‘Every person shall be entitled to his personal liberty and no person shall be deprived of such liberty,’ Section 39 (1) provides that; ‘Every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression, including freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impact ideas and information without interference,’ while Section 41 (1) provides that ‘Every citizen of Nigeria is entitled to move freely throughout Nigeria and to reside in any part thereof, and no citizen of Nigeria shall be expelled from Nigeria or refused entry thereto or exit therefrom.’

    “Article 13 (1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to which Nigeria is a signatory provides that “Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the border of each State while Article 13 (2) provides that ‘Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and return to his country,’ ditto Article 12 (2) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

    “By provisions of the Constitution of Nigeria, ordinary Nigerians do not require clearance from the DSS or any security agency to travel outside Nigeria unless travel restriction is placed by an order of the court, not to talk of State Governors that enjoy immunity just like the President and are not under the control of the President.

    “Our question is; if Governor Fayose has become a threat to the security of Nigeria just because he criticises President Buhari and says the truth about his mis-governance of the country, what happens to Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended), which provided for freedom of expression and freedom to hold opinions?

    “Most importantly, under a federal system of government, the states and national government both enjoy some autonomy, with sovereign power formally divided between the national government and the States such that each State retains some degree of control over its internal affairs.

    “However, it appears that the laws of Nigeria are not important to the President Mohammadu Buhari led government and it has become once again necessary that webring your attention to yet, another plot to subvert our rights as a State.

    “We wish to recall that in 1984 when President Buhari was a military Head of State, late Chief Obafemi Awolowo was prevented from travelling outside Nigeria for medical treatment, thereby leading to his (Awolowo) untimely death in 1987.

    “The international passports of late Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade; late Emir of Kano Alhaji Ado Bayero and late Obi of Onitsha, Ofala Akulalia Alphonsus Ogugua were also seized and they were restricted to their palaces just because they travelled to Israel for business.

    “We therefore wish to state on behalf of Governor Ayodele Fayose that as an opposition figure, he cannot be cowed by this pettiness from the presidency.”

    Angwe commended members of the House of Assembly for their commitment to the sustenance of rule of law in the country and cooperation with the executive arm of government in Ekiti State.

  • Ekiti Speaker condoles with NMA over death of colleagues

    Ekiti Speaker condoles with NMA over death of colleagues

    The Speaker, Ekiti State House of Assembly, Mr Kola Oluwawole, on Monday condoled with the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Ado-Ekiti branch, over the death of six of its members in an auto-crash.

     

    Oluwawole also condoled with the people and government of Ekiti in a statement issued by his Media Aide, Stephen Gbadamosi, in Ado-Ekiti.

     

    He described the death of the six medical doctors as a grievous moment, not only for EKiti, but the entire nation and the health sector in particular.

     

    Oluwawole, according to the statement, said members of the state Assembly received the news with shock.

     

    “When we received the sad news from one of our members, Dr Samuel Omotoso, who is also a professional colleague of the deceased, we were shocked.

     

    “The deceased were in active service to their fatherland, when death took them in their prime.

     

    “They were going to the 56th NMA Annual General conference and delegates’ meeting in Sokoto, which would have impacted positively on the nation’s health sector,” the statement reads.

     

    He commiserated with the people of Nigeria, Ekiti State as well as members of the medical profession over the monumental loss.

     

    He said, “May the good Lord uphold the medical family and the immediate families of the deceased. ”

     

    NAN reports that Ekiti state government has declared a three-day of mourning in honour of the dead medical doctors, while all flags should be flown at half mast.

     

    The six medical practitioners and their driver died when the car they were traveling in was involved in an accident few kilometers to Kaduna on Sunday.

  • DSS dispels death rumour of Ekiti Assembly member

    DSS dispels death rumour of Ekiti Assembly member

    The Department of State Services (DSS) in Abuja on Thursday dispelled the rumoured death of Mr Akanni Afolabi, a member of the Ekiti House of Assembly arrested by the service.

    Presenting Afolabi before newsmen, Mr Abdullahi Garba, an official of the DSS, said that the member was duly invited by the service over some breaches bordering on state security.

    He said that the breaches falls under the purview of the services to investigate.

    Garba said that the briefing became necessary in order to debunk the rumour being spread in Ekiti by some mischief makers.

    “You can see that Akanni Afolabi is hale and hearty,” he said.

    “Nigerians and Ekiti people in particular are convinced to see that Afolabi is hale and hearty as being presented to the press today,” he said.

    Garba said investigation was still ongoing on the matter, adding that the service has not received any court order for his release.

    He warned that the service would not hesitate to bring the full weight of the law against any one or persons that may engage in violent actions.

    “The DSS, therefore, warns all those who have planned to make a meat out of this to desist from it and steer clear from trouble,” he said.

    Garba assured all abiding Ekiti residents of adequate security and urged them to go about their normal businesses.

     

  • Senate to probe DSS invasion of Ekiti Assembly

    Senate to probe DSS invasion of Ekiti Assembly

    The Senate Wednesday mandated its committee on National Security and Intelligence to investigate alleged invasion of Ekiti State House of Assembly by some personnel of the Department of State Security (DSS).

    This followed a motion by Senator Biodun Olujimi (Ekiti South) entitled “The invasion of Ekiti State House of Assembly by armed men of the Directorate of State Services (DSS) on Friday , March 4, 2016.”

    Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, who gave the committee two weeks to submit detailed report of what transpired in the State House of Assembly, noted that the Senate would however not jump into conclusion without investigation.

    Saraki described the alleged invasion of the House of Assembly as a serious issue but insisted that the matter raised by Senators was such that the Senate should not jump into hasty conclusion on the issue.

    Olujimi in her lead debate noted that the Senate should be alarmed that on Friday March4, 2016, the hallowed chamber of the Ekiti State House of Assembly was invaded by armed men of the DSS.

    She said that the Senate should be further alarmed that not minding the various committees of the House were meeting, more than 10 DSS men who were armed to the teeth invaded the Assembly complex, shooting sporadically into the air, thereby causing panic among members and staff of the House, who had to scamper for safety and were afraid for their lives.

    The lawmaker said that she was concerned that at the end of the commotion created by the barbaric act, four members of the House of Assembly could not be found.

    She noted that news filtered in during the weekend that Hon. Afolabi Akanni, the member representing Efon Constituency was abducted and taken to Abuja.

    She described the action of the DSS operatives as not only unconstitutional, illegal and unlawful but a plot calculated to harass, intimidate and embarrass the people and government of Ekiti State.

    Olujimi recalled that in September 2015, the Akwa Ibom State Government House was invaded by armed men of the same DSS without any formal explanation as to the reason for the invasion.

    She noted that there was no doubt that embarking on political vendetta and muzzling of the opposition was dangerous to the survival of democracy in the country.

    The lawmaker noted that she is persuaded that the action of the security operatives is outside the scope of the mandate of the service.

    The National Assembly, as the highest lawmaking body in the country, he said, must step in to defend and uphold the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) which they were elected to uphold.

    Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe in his contribution, said that if nothing is done to check the excesses of the men of the DSS, the next place they will invade might be Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    He said that the Legislative Privileges Act should form the basis of whatever action the Senate wanted to take on the matter.

    He noted that no stranger should enter any legislative house with the permission of the Speaker of the Senate President.

    Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah in his contribution noted that it will be nice and politically expedient for the Senate to take judicial notice of the fact that Ekiti State has always been subject of breaking the law.

    He recalled the state Chief Judge was once beaten and chased away.

    Na’ Allah said that the Senate should threat with caution on the issue of alleged invasion of the State House of Assembly.

    Senate Leader, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume said that the motion came at a time the Senate should stand firm.

    He noted that democracy is made up of three arms with different duties.

    He said that the allegation of invasion if true was wrong.

  • You can’t escape impeachment, Speaker tells Fayose

    You can’t escape impeachment, Speaker tells Fayose

    The Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Dr Adewale Omirin, has said Governor Ayodele Fayose cannot escape  impeachment.

    He said the impeachment notice served him is a constitutional matter and not theatrics to play down serious issues of the law raised in the letter to the governor.

    He said instead of  hiding to evade justice, it is better to live with the reality that the rule of law has come to stay in the country.

    Reacting to media reports credited to the self-styled Speaker, Dele Olugbemi and the governor’s media aide, Lere Olayinka, dismissing the impeachment notice as a joke, Omirin said the two men were still acting in ignorance of the supremacy of the constitution.

    In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Wole Olujobi, Omirin said the Ekiti issue was to rescue democracy from the gridlock of executive lawlessness and impunity.

    He said: “It will soon be clear to Fayose and his aides that the matter at hand goes beyond exuberant media skirmishes being deployed to rally support for the governor.

    “The world’s attention has shifted to Ekiti State, following the Ekitigate scandal. Several issues have been raised on the place of the constitution in nurturing democracy and as responsible citizens, we must act fast to make democracy work.”

    The Speaker said all allegations raised in the impeachment notice are constitutional matters, to which the governor must be ready to produce answers, instead of his belligerent stance.

    Advising the governor to respond to the allegations against him, he said running away from the Government House and using his aides to cover his track would not help him in defending his assault and other infractions on the constitution that were established against him in court.

    “It is good that his men are talking in the media about the need to uphold the constitution in this matter even though they behave short of upholding the constitution in their conduct.

    “Even though the governor trampled on the same constitution when he led thugs to attack judges and tore  records in the chief judge’s office, our duty is to follow constitutional path in this impeachment process.

    “These men who are flying the governor’s banner will soon see the law in action. This impeachment process is real.

    “We must rescue Ekiti State from lawlessness and fraud. The N1.3 billion poultry project fraud case is still in court. There are still cases of unresolved murders.

    “We have again seen the resumption of state-sponsored terrorism with thugs attacking and maiming Ekiti people after a break in 2006, when the governor was impeached for fraud and attacks on opponents.

    “We thought his impeachment trauma in 2006 would have taught him a lesson, but the governor has proved that he cannot survive in a society where the law works.

    “We advise him to come out of hiding and defend himself because we are prepared to give him a fair hearing.

    “That is the reality he must face instead of downplaying serious matter of constitutional consequences.”

  • ‘Baby Doc’ Fayose: usurper, propagandist, despot

    ‘Baby Doc’ Fayose: usurper, propagandist, despot

    Justifying the coup he plotted and executed in the Ekiti State House of Assembly last Thursday, the same day a similar madness was unfolding in Abuja, Governor Ayo Fayose claimed the leadership of the assembly had abandoned work. He was uninterested in what the constitution says, or the fact that he virtually drove the lawmakers out of town. Seven lawmakers out of the state’s 26 lawmakers could unseat Speaker Adewale Omirin and other legislative leaders, the governor and his rebel lawmakers argued. They also suggested that the circumstances of their rebellion and the continuing opposition of the APC lawmakers to the governor were more salient than the issue of whether or not seven members formed a quorum when they sat, or whether or not the constitution supported their actions.

    Mr Fayose’s style is straight from Nazi book of propaganda. First demonise the victim using the most dismal forms of misinformation and disinformation, then savage him by unconscionably distorting the law and constitution, and then finally keep the electorate tethered to lies and sated on a diet of sweeping propaganda, creating a siege mentality and predicating subsequent subversion of the constitution on the victims supposed sins. After Mr Fayose was sworn in I had thrice attempted to draw the attention of Ekiti to the style of their governor and the complex he suffered from. But somehow, they had convinced themselves that the state’s enemy is somewhere in Lagos, as the governor alleges, and the resources of the state are plundered by that unseen and distant enemy.

    Having found the formula efficacious, Mr Fayose is likely to deploy it in all its bitter severity until the state is fed up with his atavism, the upheavals he is stirring, the decay enveloping the state’s democratic and judicial infrastructure, and the extension of his abuse of power to include his erstwhile supporters. Recall that he began his manipulation of the state even before he won the election and before he was inaugurated. He made a bogey out of APC leaders and accused former governor Kayode Fayemi of kowtowing to them in Lagos. He also accused Dr Fayemi of building a palatial mansion and founding a university in Ghana at the expense of Ekiti people. Once he won the election, and knowing he had neither a programme to govern nor the acumen to offer civilised leadership, he began to inflame the Ekiti mob, priming them for attacks against his enemies. Soon he was marshalling an attack on the judiciary, virtually intimidating them into silence. And he has now turned his gaze on the legislature to weaken it and destroy it by a series of intimidating measures. Rather than build Ekiti and make it a pride among states, he is set on destroying its image, dividing its people and wrecking whatever is left of its weakened institutions.

    Mr Fayose, at his inauguration and at other fora, said he was a changed man, sobered by age and his Christian ethic. His government, he promised, would be inclusive, and he would offer Ekiti the leadership it yearned for and probably deserved. Mr Fayose has not only refused to change; his inchoate ethos has in fact considerably declined, even as he has exhibited none of the wisdom and temperament that come with age. If he has any Christianity in him, in view of the spectacular thanksgiving he offered after his inauguration, it is not clear which verses of scriptures he rests it upon. He has mutated into the worst fascist any state can produce, and has become a propagandist and cruel and cynical manipulator of the people’s ignorance. He is cynical enough to continue to feed Ekiti the nauseous diet of fear of outside attackers, and he will stop at nothing to destroy those who oppose him. He will cast his enemies as stooges of Lagos money power, and his opponents and media critics as agents of destabilisation. He will create an atmosphere of fear and resentment, pitting Ekiti people against themselves, and setting the stage for the most pernicious attack on common sense and other symbols of Ekiti civilisation.

    But Mr Fayose, who reminds us of the sybaritic dictator of Haiti, Jean-Claude (Baby Doc) Duvalier, will soon exceed even his own theatricality. Perhaps, then, Ekiti will finally wake up to the political nightmare they have brought upon themselves with the connivance of credulous Yoruba politicians and activists battling their own private demons and nursing their pet jealousies.