The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Ekiti STATE

  • Ekiti varsity starts 1st semester exam

    Ekiti varsity starts 1st semester exam

    The Ekiti State University has commenced its 1st semester examination despite the impeachment crises in the state.

    The examination, which started on Monday, April 20, came after the Vice Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Patrick Oladipupo Aina, had earlier notified the students that the examination was going to start.

    According to a statement issued by the Vice Chancellor at a congress of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Ado-Ekiti chapter, earlier in the month, he disclosed that only 100 level students were exempted from writing the examination.

    Our correspondent gathered that the institution has been on strike for over one month and as such the students consented to the authorities’ decision.

    The institution had embarked on strike after the state governor, Ayodele Fayose, paid his outstanding debts, but refused to clear the debts of his predecessor, Kayode Fayemi.

    But the institution’s authorities  belief the state government will grant its request before the completion of the examination or the strike will continue.

  • The Fayose paradox

    The Fayose paradox

    It is unfortunate that the law could still rise to protect a man who  has scant regard for it

    THE triumph of the Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayo Fayose, at the Supreme Court, would rankle many who feel genuinely offended, by his maltreatment of the law and its officers, in his fight to keep his position. Resorting to unconventional ways to stave off pre-election qualification suit against him, Mr. Fayose’s thugs allegedly got a judge rough-handled, had a court’s registry upturned, and ensured that the High Court’s proceedings against him were forcefully aborted. Yet, despite these allegations of brazen assaults against the judiciary, the majesty of the law rose to protect him, in the appeal filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) challenging the decision of the Court of Appeal, which upheld his election.

    In dismissing the appeal filed by the APC, the Supreme Court upheld the earlier judgment of the Court of Appeal and the Election Petition Tribunal, which had upheld the governor’s election. In a unanimous judgment, the Supreme Court held that Mr. Fayose was not legally impeached in 2006, and as such he could not be deemed unqualified to re-contest the governorship election held last year. The apex court held that the actions of the then acting chief judge, Jide Aladejana, which set up a second impeachment panel, after the first panel set up by the former chief judge, Kayode Bamishile, had failed to find impeachable offences against the governor, amounted to a nullity, as it contravened section 188(8) of the 1999 constitution.

    The Supreme Court also dismissed the claim that Governor Fayose presented a forged Higher National Diploma Certificate, on the grounds that the appellant failed to prove his allegation. The court resolved that whether Peter Ayodele Oluwayose and Peter Ayodele Fayose are one and the same, had been resolved in 2004, when the then Alliance for Democracy took the matter before the Court of Appeal, which was the apex court on governorship election matters then. The court also failed to rely on the issue of deployment of soldiers as a ground to nullify the election, as it contended that the finding of the Court of Appeal was an obiter dicta (a judge’s incidental remark that is not essential to his decision and therefore not legally binding as a precedent) and not a ratio decidendi (the point in a case which determines the judgment) appealed against.

    Many of Fayose’s opponents expressed sadness that a fellow who has been very callow with the judicial process could be protected by it. In expressing her frustration, the APC in a statement said: “we had expected that the judgment will serve as a deterrent to the like of Mr. Fayose, who believes in impunity and extra-judicial method of doing things. We are shocked that a man who did not allow a case of eligibility against him to be heard till today at the State High Court after assaulting judges and desecrating the judiciary would come out clean at the topmost temple of justice”.

    Even stranger is Mr. Fayose’s capacity aided by the federal authorities, to emasculate the Ekiti State legislature; and the seeming inability of the judiciary to rise up in defence of that critical arm of government. In a manner which smacks of autocracy, Mr. Fayose has so far been able to use seven members of the state House of Assembly to run the legislative arm of the state, while the majority 19 members have been forced out of town. Shockingly, the efforts of the majority members to rely on the judiciary, to save their authority from the cudgels of Mr. Fayose have at best met limp support.

    The sorry state of our democratic enterprise in Ekiti presently, is that with less than one-third members of the state legislature, Mr. Fayose has been pretending to be running a democratic government. The speaker whose position has been usurped, is left in the lurch with his group, while his minority colleagues, turned law-breakers, have been able to ‘pass’ the budget, approve commissioners and engage in other legislative misdemeanours, while the law stands akimbo. That is why those opposed to Mr. Fayose were wishing that the apex court would have ears and eyes to see for itself that the man whom the law seeks to protect has shown scant regard for the rule of law.

    For the ordinary folk, the law surely acts strange. Such strangeness lies in the fact that Mr. Fayose could well abuse the same system that aides him, without any severe consequence. Perhaps the problem lies with those handling the case. Perhaps the litigants have not adequately made their case before the court, or if they did, they were not able to prove it. Perhaps the problem lies with our legal system. Perhaps Fayose’s executive lawlessness aided by the federal power had made it impossible for the court to hear and determine the post-election suit against him. Well, in forcefully emasculating the lower courts, Mr. Fayose’s confidence was well founded, as the Supreme Court has now resolved the germane issues in his favour.

  • Ekiti’s descent to anarchy

    Ekiti’s descent to anarchy

    Security agencies must be alive to their responsibilities and let the legislative arm do its job unfettered

    Is Ekiti State still a part of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and subject to the authority of the 1999 constitution, which is the supreme law under which the country is governed? It is difficult to credibly answer this question in the affirmative, especially since Mr Ayodele Fayose’s election as governor of the state at the June 21, 2014 polls. Since his emergence as governor-elect and even more so after he was inaugurated on October 16, 2014, the rule of law has practically been in abeyance in Ekiti State. The governor, who should be the symbol of law and order as the Chief Security Officer of the state has become the pivot around which lawlessness revolves and the prime source of insecurity within his sphere of jurisdiction.

    True, Fayose remains the governor of Ekiti State in accordance with the will of the people for as long as his election has not been upturned by judicial or other constitutionally sanctioned processes. However, it borders on treason for him to utilise his executive powers derived from the constitution to undermine the same constitution by incapacitating other arms of government and imposing a reign of tyranny, arbitrariness and violence on the state, which is exactly what he has been doing.

    As governor-elect, Fayose’s army of thugs invaded the premises of the Ekiti State judiciary, violently disrupting and ultimately truncating court proceedings in a case filed by a group of Ekiti State indigenes challenging his eligibility for the office. Fayose was physically present at the scene where a judge was beaten up and his suit torn to shreds while court records were destroyed. This is one of the worst cases of impunity in the country’s political history. That this travesty remains unpunished is an indication of the degree of anomie that has characterised the Jonathan presidency.

    On his being sworn in as governor, Fayose commenced a systematic assault on Ekiti State House of Assembly, particularly intimidating, harassing and hounding the 19 legislators of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who remained faithful to their party. He directed that a petrol station in Ado Ekiti, the state capital, owned by the Speaker, Wale Omirin, be shut down, claiming that the facility constituted an environmental menace. Fayose further sacked the personal staff of the Speaker, rendering his office ineffective.

    When the legislators refused to succumb to intimidation, the governor instigated a minority of seven members of the House belonging to his party to purportedly impeach the Speaker in a House comprising 26 members. The state security agencies, which are supposed to uphold the law, provided cover for this act of lawlessness, which amounts to a coup against the constitution. Fearing for their lives in a state where the rule of law had been replaced by impunity, the 19 majority legislators fled the state and had since been on exile from Ekiti.

    However, with the emergence of General Muhammadu Buhari as President-elect in the March 28 election, and even before his formal assumption of office on May 29, a sense of sanity is being restored across the country. For instance, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and the Department of State Security (DSS) in Ekiti State have restored the security detail of Dr Omirin, which was withdrawn after his purported impeachment. This indicates that the security agencies recognise that the impeachment was patently illegal and cannot stand in an emergent order that upholds the rule of law.

    In the exercise of the Assembly’s constitutional powers, the 19 APC members of the House have issued Fayose an impeachment notice, accusing him of acts of gross misconduct in the exercise of his powers. Rather than respond to the issues or seek requisite judicial remedies to stop the legislators, Fayose has, since Monday, instigated widespread violence and mayhem across Ekiti. His hemp-smoking and arms-wielding thugs and hoodlums have disrupted the peace and held the state hostage in Ado Ekiti and several other towns. When he eventually decided to go to court, the Federal High Court in Abuja to which he went failed to grant his prayer to stop the legislators from doing their work.

    Meanwhile, a detachment of soldiers, allegedly acting on the directive of Brigadier-General Aliyu Momoh, Brigade Commander, 32 Artillery Brigade, Akure, had earlier prevented the 19 APC lawmakers from entering Ado Ekiti, thus contravening their freedom of movement and aiding Fayose in his insolence and lawlessness. This is nothing but a descent to anarchy in Ekiti, which must not be allowed to stand.

    We call on the requisite security agencies to immediately restore law and order in the state and create a conducive environment for the legislature to function. The prevalent situation in the state is an unpardonable failure of security. All security agents implicated in the reign of impunity in Ekiti must be investigated and made to face the law.  We are aware that it is the people of Ekiti State who have the right to determine their governor. However, on no condition can such a person be allowed to hide under the guise of populism to violate the law and undermine constitutional rule.

  • Ballot snatching, violence, apathy in Ekiti

    Ekiti State House of Assembly poll in Ekiti yesterday was marred by incidents of ballot snatching, violence and low turnout.

    Early results obtained from most of the units in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, showed that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was in comfortable lead.

    But the election in all units and wards in Ilejemeje Local Government Area was cancelled on account of ballot snatching and violence.

    Violence marred the polls in communities in the council area like Iye, Iludun and Eda Oniyo with the exercise inconclusive.

    An agent of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Eda Oniyo, Gabriel Fatile, was wounded by suspected thugs belonging to the PDP.

    Suspected political thugs also unleashed terror on voters and party agents during voting.

    Governor Ayo Fayose and former Governor Kayode Fayemi condemned infractions recorded in some parts of the state.

    While Fayose bemoaned snatching of ballot boxes in towns like Ikole, Osin, Iludun and Egbe, Fayemi regretted incidents of violence in Efon Alaaye where some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) were attacked.

    Fayemi alleged that three truckloads of thugs stormed the home of the Speaker Adewale Omirin in Aisegba in Gbonyin Local Government Area to attack and possibly assassinate him.

    Fayemi said the siege on Omirin’s home forced the Speaker from personally participating in the election.

    He added that eight out of twelve APC Assembly members seeking re-election had been declared persona non grata by the ruling PDP.

    Fayose, after casting his vote at Unit 001, Afao/Araromi Ward in Irepodun/Ifelodun Local Government Area, described the reported ballot snatching as “barbaric and indecent”.

    The governor said: “Violence during election is bad, only God can enthrone anybody into any position.

    “Snatching ballot boxes on election day will not be in the interest of the electoral process. It is not the best for the country.

    “It is my belief that democracy should move forward and not backward.

    “So, we the stakeholders must put the interest of this country beyond our personal interest so that we can move forward as a nation.”

    Fayemi, who voted at Unit 009, Ward 11 in Isan, Oye Local Government Area called on the police to investigate the alleged arrest of the APC candidate in Ikere Constituency 2, Aderemi Adedara and other leaders of the party over trumped-up charges.

    He also alleged that a PDP House of Assembly candidate was moving around with patrol vehicles.

  • Alleged Ekiti Killing: You lied, APC tells Fayose

    Alleged Ekiti Killing: You lied, APC tells Fayose

    • As Police arrest PDP thugs with dangerous weapons

     

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has described as untrue reports that the convoy of the APC lawmakers killed a man at Efon Alaaye-Ekiti on Tuesday.

    It said that the report by Governor Ayodele Fayose’s media aide, Lere Olayinka, alleging the lawmakers’ convoy killed a man was the figment of his imagination and one in the series of media spins he had been selling to the unsuspecting public to mislead the people to get sympathy.

    Reacting to ‎social and electronic media reports of the purported killing, the Special Adviser on Media to Speaker Omirin, Wole Olujobi, said the governor’s aide was in a familiar terrain of mindless propaganda to mislead the public.

    “The truth is that no one was killed. Nobody saw a dead body on the way up to Itawure junction where the soldiers disallowed us to pass. Itawure junction is not the same as Efon-Alaaye, so we don’t know where he got his story.

    “However, we heard that Fayose removed a dead body from the mortuary and presented it to Efon people, claiming that Honourable Folorunso Ogundele, a member of the House of Assembly and an indigene of Efon-Alaaye, was the one who pulled the trigger to kill a fellow Efon-Alaaye man in order to instigate violence in the town against him,” the statement explained.

    It added: “For those who know Fayose very well, this story is typical of his rabble-rousing tactics to cause mob action against opponents.

    “It is gratifying that the people were able to quickly decipher that Fayose was up to a mischief to set brothers against brothers.”

    The statement explained that the soldiers who stopped the lawmakers on their way offered no explanation for their action. “Instead of losing our cool for their strange behaviour, we just left the place,” the statement explained.

    It added that sources later confirmed that the soldiers were allegedly under a firm instruction of Brigadier-General ‎Aliyu Momah to disallow the lawmakers from passing through the check-point.

    It said that General Momah, whose voice was heard among those that were implicated in the leaked audio tape detailing Ekiti election fraud, is the Commander of the Battalion where the soldiers at the check-point‎ are attached.

    Meanwhile, the lawmakers have vowed to go ahead with the impeachment proceedings, saying that the lawmakers had a constitutional duty and responsibility to probe any infraction of the constitution.

    Also yesterday, five suspected thugs working for PDP were seized by the police in Ado-Ekiti. They include one Ademola Bello, S.A to Fayose on Political Matters, one Ojo, Wasiu Ogunshakin, Dada Adewumi, Kayode Oso, Commissioner for Works, Adeyanju Oluwole, Raphael Adebayo and Babajide Adebayo.

    They were arrested in a black colour Ford Hilux vehicle with registration number – EK 05B27 -and one blue coloured Toyota Hilux with registration number – AA 363 YEK.

    Recovered from them are 250-litre container of petrol, a container of acid, guns, axes, cutlasses and charms. They were also in possession of fake US Dollars and a parcel of Indian hemp.

    The thugs were arrested about 200 meters to Ekiti State House of Assembly where they planned to storm the Assembly to attack APC lawmakers.

    Scores of other suspected thugs escaped arrest as they abandoned their vehicle and fled to the bush.

  • ‘Fayose should stop creating confusion’

    EKITI State Governor Ayo Fayose has been urged to face instead of creating confusion.

    The ex-chairman, National Action Council (NAC), Otunba Segun Kolawole, gave the advice against the backdrop of calls by the governor that the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari was fit to run.

    Kolawole, who is from Ekiti State, said such calls bring the state and its indigenes into disrepute, among other odium.

    He recalled that Fayose promised to turn a new leaf from his old ways, adding that the governor also said so during his swearing-in last year. “But, what is happening shows acts of immaturity by the governor. Every  one can go to the hospital. What is wrong with Buhari doing so? If Fayose is asking Buhari to swear with the Koran, I ask: ‘Can he (Fayose) also swear with the Bible that he had not gone to the hospital? Doesn’t Buhari need treatment or medical check-up after the long campaigns? At 72, I think Buhari does and it is not too much, if he did go for treatment.’’

    Kolawole urged Fayose to note that no condition is permanent in life, adding that he should not be disrespectful to  Buhari as if their ways would not cross again. He cited the immediate past governor of Ekiti State Dr Kayode Fayemi, who was asked to probe his predecessor Segun Oni. He said, at the moment, both Oni and Fayemi, are in the same party. “Fayose should think of tomorrow,’’ he advised.

    Kolawole said the governance is so enormous that Fayose should not have time for frivolities. “Ekiti indigenes are recognised for their academic prowess and knowledge. But today, education as an industry, is not doing well as it used to. People outside the state are not happy with the comments of the governor on Buhari. No doubt, Ekiti people love Fayose. But he should not waste the goodwill they have for him. He should focus on how Ekiti would develop by bringing in new ideas and how he could move the education sector forward.

    “He should try and promote the unity of the state by working for its peace. The state has many resources. He should try and focus on these. He should remember the grassroots where are no hospitals, good roads, among others. Also, if only he can focus on agriculture, this would boost the revenue of the state. I pray that God would help him.’’

  • Photos: Fayose’s swearing in

    Photos: Fayose’s swearing in

  • Fayose: Question mark on eligibility?

    Fayose: Question mark on eligibility?

    A group of professionals, the E-Eleven, led by Mr. Femi Ajiniran, is asking the court to determine the eligibility of the Ekiti State Governor-elect, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, to contest the June 21 election. EMMANUEL OLADESU writes on the implications of the litigation for power transfer in the Fountain of Knowledge.

    Ekiti State Governor-elect Ayodele Fayose has one more hurdle to cross before assuming the reins on October 16. The court must make a pronouncement on his eligibility for the election held on June 21. If the case is decided in his favour, he will be sworn in by the Chief Judge, Justice Ayodeji Daramola. If the court rules that he was not eligible, there may be fresh constitutional crises in the state.

    When  the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) flag bearer was filling ‘Form INEC CF.001,’  little did he know that he would be asked to explain what he deposed to in the court of law after winning the poll. In the form, Fayose allegedly denied being indicted for fraud by a judicial commission or an administrative panel of inquiry.

    However, a group, the ‘e-Eleven’, thinks otherwise. Based on the document, the group believes that he was unfit to contest for the election. Therefore, it is praying an Ado Ekiti High Court to make a pronouncement on his eligibility for the contest. Other defendants in the suit are the PDP and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    According to e-Eleven, Fayose contested the poll in error. On may 23, the group had approached the court, alleging that Fayose had contravened the 1999 Constitution and the 2011 Electoral Act. The suit was brought pursuant to Order 3 Rule 5 and 6 of the High Court of Ekiti State (Civil Procedure Rules, 2011), precisely 29 days to the governorship election. Put succinctly, the group said Fayose violated Sections 177 and 182 (1) (d-e) of the constitution  (as amended) and Sections 31 and 87 of the Electoral Act.

    Section 182 (1) (d-e) provides that no person “shall be qualified for election to the office of governor of a state, if he is under a sentence of death imposed by any competent court of law or tribunal in Nigeria or a sentence of imprisonment for any offence involving dishonesty or fraud; or within a period of less than ten years before the date of election to the office of governor of a state he has been convicted and sentenced for an offence involving dishonesty or he has been found guilty of the Code of Conduct.”

    =Also, Section 31 (4-6) of the Electoral Act provided further conditions for disqualification of a governorship candidate. The section stated that a person might apply “to the commission for a copy of nomination form, affidavit and any other document submitted by a candidate at an election and the Commission shall, upon the payment of a prescribed fee, shall issue such person with a certified copy of the document within 14 days.

    “A person, who has reasonable grounds to believe that any information given by a candidate in the affidavit or any document submitted by the candidate is false may file a suit at the High Court of a State or Federal High Court against such person seeking a declaration that the information contained in the affidavit is false. If the Court determines that any of the information contained in the affidavit or any document submitted by the candidate is false, the Court shall issue an order disqualifying the candidate from contesting the election…”

    The group alleged that the governor-elect was indicted in a suit he filed against The News Magazine in 2004.

    In 2004, Fayose sued The News Magazine for alleged defamation of character at the High Court, Ekiti. The trial judge, Justice Ayodele Daramola, dismissed Fayose’s suit on the premise of the comprehensive report the State Security Service (SSS) filed on Fayose’s activities.

    Besides, the E-Eleven insisted that the Ekiti State House of Assembly impeached Fayose on October 16, 2006, following the report of a validly constituted administrative panel as provided for in Section 188 (5) of the 1999 Constitution. According to the group, the panel found the governor-elect guilty of gross misconduct in 2006, which means he cannot contest governorship election until 2016, in line with the constitutional provision.

    However, the PDP has objected to the claims, saying that the group and the All Progressives Congress (APC) are orchestrating a succession crisis in Ekiti, following the defeat of Governor Kayode Fayemi at the poll.

    Since the case started, there has been anxiety in Ekiti. A judge, Olusegun Ogunyemi, has been attacked by suspected thugs. Although Fayose denied involvement in the attack, the Chief Judge of Ekiti State, Justice Ayodeji Daramola, has written on how thugs manhandled the judge and prevented him from discharging his constitutional responsibilities to the National Judicial Council (NJC). He said the judge was prevented from ruling on the case before him. Fayose has denied that he sponsored the attacks, saying that the attribution to him was embarrassing.

    At the Election Petition Tribunal, thugs also harassed another judge, Justice John Adeyeye. According to reports, there was pandemonium at the court premises. When thugs invaded the premises, judges, counsel and court workers were manhandled. Court document were allegedly mutilated. Many people were injured. The governor-elect said he did not mobilise the thugs to disrupt proceedings in court.

    Cases of arson have also been reported in Ekiti. A former leader of the road transport union, Mr. Omolafe Aderiye, has been murdered. The APC office has been razed. The campaign office of the governor has also been burnt by suspected thugs. Fayemi  called off his ‘thank you’ tour. He also imposed a curfew on Ado-Ekiti, the state capital. Many indigenes are worried that Ekiti is in the news again for the wrong reason. Some traditional rulers have sued for peace, stressing that the state is greater than the major actors at the centre of the new controversy.

    Irked by the desecration of the temple of justice, the NJC invited all the parties and victims to Abuja. After its meeting, the council condemned the attack on judicial officers and urged the Inspector-General of Police to investigate the incidents. It also directed that the suit should be given accelerated hearing so that it the verdict can be given before Fayose’s inauguration.

    However, to the PDP has petitioned the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloma Mukthar, accusing the chief judge of planning to abort the inauguration slated for October 16. It warned that the unfolding scenario may precipitate a constitutional crisis. The petition titled: “Another Judicial Coup Plotted to Avert the Swearing-in of the Governor-elect of Ekiti State,” was signed by  the Secretary, Dr. Tope Aluko, and the Publicity Secretary, Pastor Kola Oluwawole. The party alleged that Justice Daramola and  Governor Kayode Fayemi had planned “to give accelerated hearing to some suits challenging the eligibility of Fayose for the June 21 governorship election, despite the notice of appeal and the stay of proceedings filed in respect of the suits.”

    The party said that Fayose had challenged the assumption of jurisdiction by an Ado-Ekiti High Court on the matter and also filed a stay of proceedings on the hearing of the substantive suit. It also recalled that the governor-elect has written a letter the CJN, raising fears about attempts “to frustrate the swearing-in of the governor-elect.”

    “This was done in view of Section 185 (2) of the 1999 Constitution, which empowers only the Chief Judge of Ekiti State to swear in the governor-elect as the new governor, as Ekiti State presently has no Grand Khadi of the Sharia Court of Appeal or President of the Customary Court of Appeal that can perform similar functions, in the event the chief judge declines to do so,” it added.

    The PDP frowned at the delay in responding to Fayose’s letter of  September 28 to the Chief Justice, six days after Justice Ogunyemi was attacked and four days after Justice Adeyeye was beaten up. It alleged a desperate move by the APC “to obtain a ‘black market injunction’ from an Ekiti State High Court restraining the chief judge from swearing Fayose in.

    The NJC has said that petitions forwarded by parties to the matter “are being looked into.” It has also directed that the matter should be determined before the swearing-in of the governor-elect.  Thus, the APC, the E-Eleven, Fayose and the PDP have to abide by the decision and wait for the court’s verdict.

  • Ekiti owes Fountain Hotel N14m, says e-11

    A group in Ekiti State, the e-11, yesterday said the government is owing Fountain Hotel N14million.

    In a statement by its chairman, Femi Ajiniran, the group said it felt compelled to clarify its involvement in the hotel’s management because of recent events in the state.

    He said Consolidated Alliance Limited, owned by over 21 businessmen who are not all e-11 members, took over the hotel’s management in April, 2008.

    It said e-11 and some of its members, including those who are part of Consolidated Alliance and those who are not, own shares in the hotel just like other members of the public.

    The group said shareholders contributed N30 million and borrowed N35 million from Ecobank to equip the hotel with swimming pool, water supply, to hire workers and pay salaries,  provide furnirure and other infrastructure.

    “The N65 million went into taking care of these and into making the hotel a befitting masterpiece that it has become today,” the group said.

    It said during the Segun Oni administration, Consolidated Alliance paid N2.5 million to the state through the Ministry of Commerce as rent per month until the government under Dr. Kayode Fayemi set up Fountain Holdings to manage the state’s business interests, including collecting rent.

    “As at 2 October, 2014, Fountain Hotel is owing Fountain Holdings the sum of N32,922,074 in rents while the Ekiti State government is owing Fountain Hotel the sum of N46,417,591.50.

    “If the sum being owed Fountain Holdings in rents is deducted from what the Ekiti State government is owing the hotel, Consolidated Alliance is still being owed in excess of N14 million,” e-11 said.

    The group debunked claims that it manages the hotel, saying: “Anything to the contrary is mischievous and should be discountenanced. We are not the managers of Fountain Hotel, but Consolidated Alliance Limited which has some of our members as part owners.

    “We believe this would put all misinformation to rest. However, if it doesn’t, we are ready for public scrutiny in the interest of transparency, probity and accountability.

    “Our continued silence at a time like this has become unfashionable especially in the light recent developments in our state, hence the need to set the record straight in the spirit of accountability and for posterity’s sake.”

  • Ekiti: a dress rehearsal?

    Ekiti: a dress rehearsal?

    Perhaps nothing best signposts the times we are in as a nation than the assault on some judges in Ekiti State between September 22 and 24, apparently by some political bandits, led, according to the state chief judge, by Governor-elect Ayo Fayose himself. I thought I was too young to cite if ever there was any such precedent in the annals of Nigeria’s history, but I was reassured by some people who have seen it all, I mean older citizens who have spent more than seven decades plus on earth, that never in our country’s history have we witnessed such assault on judges. It then dawned on me that the incident may be one of the unusual lows we have witnessed under the Goodluck Jonathan administration and could jolly well be one of the end-time signs that we would be seeing as a nation.

    Even the police that should protect the judges happened to be the spectators-in-chief. Maybe the police realised their powerlessness in the matter, hence their lukewarm attitude while the assault lasted. So, the judges who did not were taught a lesson to be able to read the body language at the top, I mean the very top!

    No one is saying that people cannot be aggrieved over any matter. But the most civilised way to go is to get the law courts to decide on whatever the contentions are. However, when we now put the fear of hoodlums in judges, the cause of justice cannot be well served and the citizens are the ultimate losers.

    Anyway, in the lighter mood, since nobody gets angry at a dog for barking, just as no one kills rams for fighting. (I am not chanting incantations), please. These animals are only doing what their creator made them to do. So, no one should be surprised at what is happening in Ekiti State. We were told before that the ruling party pushed some people forward in the southwest not necessarily because the people have anything to offer but because they have an infinite capacity to cause mayhem. What is happening in Ekiti could jolly well be a precursor to what to expect in the ‘Fountain of knowledge’ in subsequent weeks, months or even years. The good thing is that whoever had any doubt about Ekiti being a ‘Fountain of knowledge’ must have realised after the June 14 governorship election that he or she was mistaken. Ekiti has lived up to its billing in that wise by adding to our political lexicon what we now famously know as ‘Stomach infrastructure’, which has significantly contributed to our knowledge. Many of us have had such thing in mind before but we never knew what name to call it until Ekiti people came up with that ingenious concept. Even Western journalists now famously refer to it in analysing elections in Nigeria. The beauty of it all is that the concept might soon be internationalised. We should therefore not be surprised if the Americans and the British, etc. start putting ‘Stomach infrastructure’ on their political menu! That would have been a contribution that would put Ekiti on the global map and if it is already there, it would boost its standing in the league of states with uncommon knack for inventions.

    Still in the lighter mood, the Ekiti incident reminded me of a drama by Moses Olaiya, better known as Baba Sala many years ago. He said that given the calibre of people behind him: mo le gba eegun loju; mo le fo olopa leti; ma tun wa so’ko lu adajo’ (I can slap a masquerade; I can also slap a policeman and as well stone the judge!) These are possibilities when you have our kind of federal might solidly behind you. Who is a judge? As one of them in the ruling party said a few months ago, “Ta lo nje ode aperin niwaju ode apeeyan?” (who is an elephant hunter where a human hunter is? }

    It remains to be seen whether their Lordships will be able to do “as their Lordships please”. Court!