At least one person has been reportedly killed in Efon
Alaaye, Ekiti State, as the move to impeach the State
Governor, Ayo Fayose, by the state House of
Assembly gathers momentum on Tuesday.
The victim of the protest to stop the lawmakers from
sitting to continue with the impeachment move,
Modupe Olaiya, was said to have been killed in a yet-
to-be-ascertained circumstances while the 19 All
Progressives Congress members of the House
attempted to enter the state capital, Ado Ekiti,
through the Efon Alaaye area.
UPDATED at 11am:
A huge protest is currently ongoing in Ado Ekiti,
capital of Ekiti State, against the move of Ekiti State
House of Assembly to impeach the state Governor,
Mr. Ayodele Fayose, over alleged constitutional
breaches.
Heavy security has been put in place in strategic
locations in Ado Ekiti, while entry routes have been
blocked and taken over by security operatives.
Details later. . .
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Members of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ekiti
State on Monday blocked the two major roads
leading to the state House of Assembly following
rumours that 19 All Progressives Congress
lawmakers were planning to hold a sitting to impeach
Governor Ayodele Fayose.
The party loyalists were led by the Deputy Governor,
Kolapo Olusola; a former Speaker, Tunji Odeyemi;
the Special Assistant to the governor on Information,
Lanre Ogunsuyi, and Fayose’s Public Communications
and New Media aide, Lere Olayinka.
Although nine Toyota Hilux vans carrying men and
officers of the Police and the Department of State
Services manned the main entrances to the
Assembly, the PDP members erected canopies about
200 metres away from the Assemby’s premises.
Some of them sat quietly under the canopies erected
by the Secretariat Road while others danced to music
supplied in front of the old complex.
A bus was used by the PDP members to prevent
movement into the Assembly premises from the
same road.
On Iyin Road, many of the party supporters also
ensured that no one was allowed into the complex.
The APC lawmakers, who had since November 17
stayed away from the House proceedings, had served
Fayose with an impeachment notice. They cited
impunity, brigandage, stalking and other
constitutional breaches by Fayose as reasons for the
impeachment notice.
But Ogunsuyi told journalists on Monday that the
APC lawmakers led by the Speaker, . Adewale Omirin,
erred in law by sending a notice of impeachment to
Fayose.
He added that Omirin could not claim to be the
Speaker while still challenging his own impeachment
in the court.
The governor’s information aide said, “The new
Nigeria which President Goodluck Jonathan and Maj.
Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) all campaigned for
is the one that would respect the rule of law. With
this convergence, you can see that the people are
standing by their governor. They are ready to defend
their mandate.
“Nobody asked Omirin and other APC lawmakers not
to come to the Assembly; they only decided to
abdicate their duties since November 17, 2014.
Impeachment procedure does not start and end with
the Assembly alone. The Judiciary is involved; so
their action or plan is highly condemnable.
“We want to emphasise that they are welcome as
long as they are concerned about making laws for the
progress of the state; but if it is meant to come and
impeach Governor Fayose, we won’t allow that.”
Ogunsuyi, however said the governor, as the leader
of the state, would continue to extend the olive
branch to the lawmakers.
He said, “We don’t want any unwholesome issue
because the task of developing Ekiti is an onerous
task that needs to be pursued with vigour. The
governor doesn’t want any distraction and that is why
he has been pursuing peace at all times.
“We want some measure of decorum in Ekiti. We are
not proud of the era whereby we had three
governors within a week. We want a stable
government and that we will continue to pursue for
Ekiti to be at peace.”
Odeyemi advised the APC lawmakers to sheathe their
swords and allow peace to reign by putting the
interest of the state above theirs.
He said,”The entire issue calls for concerns. As a
former legislator, I am quite aware of the rudiment
of impeachment process, but far from this, the issue
of the news any impeachment will bring to Ekiti’s
credibility is uppermost in my mind.
“How would they perceive Ekiti as a people
nationwide? So, I am calling on my colleagues to have
a rethink because we are duty bound to contribute to
the development of this state. I plead with them to
embrace reconciliation and forget about heating up
the polity unnecessarily.”
Olayinka said he received a call from an unknown
person on Monday who claimed to be an official of
the DSS .
Olayinka added that the caller whom he described as
an impersonator, said his office received a report
that he was inciting people of the state to violence
with the state-owned radio.
He said, “I received a call today (Monday) from a
number, 08141602777, claiming that it was from the
DSS headquarters in Abuja. I was told that a report
was made in the DSS office that I was inciting Ekiti
people to violence with the Ekiti Radio.”
According to him, the general manager of the
Progress FM, Ado Ekiti, also received a similar
message from same number.
The aide stated that he later contacted the DSS office
in Ado Ekiti to verify the claim and identify the caller
but was told to disregard the call.
However, the APC lawmakers, in a statement said
Fayose was compounding his problems by inciting
people,who they called thugs, against the Assembly.
They advised him to note that violence would not
solve the burden of constitutional breaches that he
had placed on himself.
The lawmakers, in the statement by Omirin’s Special
Adviser on Media, Wole Olujobi, wondered why a
governor that had questions to answer would get
involved in other unlawful conduct such as the
invasion of the Assembly by thugs.
The statement read in part, “It is shocking that the
governor would start any act of illegality bordering
on public disorder when he is having a load of illegal
acts on his head upon which he is facing removal
from office.
“Ekiti people were shocked when news spread that
the governor had asked his thugs to invade the
Assembly and occupy the place to prevent the
lawmakers from performing their legal duties.
“These PDP members were holding their meeting in
their secretariat when instruction reached them that
they must relocate to the Assembly premises where
thugs were beating passersby and molesting
motorists and residents. All these illegal acts cannot
save the governor.
“This is the way a court in the state was invaded by
thugs who beat up the judges. They tore court
records in the Chief Judge’s office and beat up his
secretary.
“Now is the turn of the House of Assembly. What the
governor is doing is a confirmation that he does not
believe and cannot tolerate democratic practice. But
democracy is what Ekiti people want and so we
expect people of conscience and good will to support
the efforts to allow Ekiti people enjoy democratic
governance.”
The lawmakers advised the governor to defend the
allegations against him in the impeachment notice
instead of resorting to self-help that offered nothing
but unnecessary venting of anger on the peaceful
people of Ekiti State.
They also confirmed in the statement that the
security details of the Speaker had been restored by
the Police and the DSS.
Jonathan didn’t ask me to resign
–Fayose
Meanwhile, Fayose has debunked a rumour that he
had been advised by President Goodluck Jonathan to
resign.
He also denied receiving impeachment notice from
the 19 APC lawmakers who accused him of
committing eight impeachable offences.
Fayose stated these on Monday during a media chat,
Meet Your Governor, monitored in Ado Ekiti.
He boasted that nobody could remove him from
office because he was holding a mandate given to
him by the people of the state. He added that before
anybody could remove him, such individual would
have to remove God first and the people of Ekiti
State.
Responding to questions from viewers on the
blockage of roads leading to the Assembly complex ,
the governor said all the attacks on him were
because of his support for President Goodluck
Jonathan .
He said, “I don’t know of any invasion; I don’t know of
any threat to the House of Assembly and I am not
aware of any impeachment process. I am aware the
House is on recess and Omirin is in court challenging
his impeachment in Lagos and Abuja.”
“They claimed to have served me on Easter Day, can
you imagine that? Who did they serve and who
received it (the impeachment notice)?
“The enemies of Ekiti people are at work again. I left
in 2006, eight years ago and God in his infinite mercy
brought me back the same day and the same month
that I was removed.
“They are waging war against my people, those who
voted me in; nobody has served (impeachment
notice). I read it on the Internet the same way you
read it on the Internet.”
Fayose said he had no regret supporting and
campaigning for Jonathan.
“Because Buhari won an election, they are waging
war against me. When I won election, that was the
same thing they did. They are not doing it for the love
of Ekiti people but for their personal interest.
“Omirin wanted to become Acting Governor but the
Bible says who art thou oh mountain before
Zerubbabel, thou shall be removed. They employed
every trick to frustrate my inauguration but they
failed. I know hey will fail again.
“If you will remove me, you will have to remove God
first who put me there. You can’t unseat God; nobody
can unseat me. No matter their number, they can’t
remove me.’’ www.punchng.com/news/impeachment-deputy-gov-others-block-ekiti-assembly-entrances/

Do we still follow d rule of law in this country?
can som1 suggest how to handle this Fayose of a thug nd his stomach infrastructure ppl.
Ekiti once fountain of knowledge has turned to fountain of thugry nd land of horror instead of honor.

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