* ……
okay Fayose’s commissioner-nominees
There was a sudden twist of events in the Ekiti State House
of Assembly as the seven Peoples
Democratic Party’s lawmakers on Monday dramatically sacked the Speaker, Dr.
Adewale Omirin.
Sitting under the watch of armed policemen stationed at the
Assembly with an Armor Personnel Carrier blocking the entrance to the Assembly
as early as 7 am, the lawmakers appointed Dele Olugbemi as Protem Speaker to
preside over the plenary.
The PDP lawmakers cited the absence of the Speaker, Dr.
Adewale Omirin, and his deputy, Taiwo Orisalade, as reasons for the appointment
of the Acting Speaker for the day’s business.
Although the PDP has seven members in the Assembly, 10
persons attended the plenary on Monday including three whose identities
remained unknown as of press time.
But the All Progressives Congress maintained that only seven
members of the Assembly, mainly PDP members, sat at the plenary when it
required nine members to form a quorum.
Special Adviser to the Speaker, Wole Olujobi had cried out, “Just
now, Governor Fayose has provided about 300 policemen escorted by armoured cars
to lead seven members of PDP to conduct a sitting approving the caretaker
committees in the local govts.”
According to Olujobi, “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."
Meanwhile, the Speaker has also vowed to challenge all the
decisions taken by the PDP Caucus in court.
In a statement by its State Publicity Secretary, Taiwo
Olatunbosun, in Ado-Ekiti, the party accused Fayose of compelling the
seven-member PDP caucus to sit and do his bidding.
The statement reads, “In his characteristic manner, Fayose
this morning went to the hallowed chamber in company of armed soldiers and
policemen, dreadfully garbed, and unleashed terror on the innocent assembly
workers, forced his way in and compelled his 7-man PDP house members to sit and
do his bidding.
“We condemn the act in its entirety and we call on all
well-meaning Nigerians to support our clarion call to call Governor Fayose to
order. We have not minced words to point out the series of constitutional
infringements being committed by Fayose as Ekiti State Governor and this is
just one in many. We are cocksure that this impunity will not stop.
“We also learnt that realising that it would require nine
members to form a quorum in a 26-member house, Fayose also brought some strange
men into the hallowed chamber to impersonate Honourable Assembly members in his
attempt at ensuring a constituted quorum.
“He insisted that they must appoint a speaker among them and
go ahead with legislative matters, forgetting that the house doesn’t hold
plenaries on Monday. How bad can an impunity be?
“We condemn in categorical terms Fayose’s lawlessness and
executive recklessness. His bully and arm-twisting tactics know no bounds and
he is acting like an emperor who cannot be stopped. He has hijacked and
pocketed the Judiciary and he believes there is nothing stopping him from
taking over the legislative functions, as long as his gun-totting soldiers are
at his beck and call.”
The PDP caucus at the plenary confirmed the appointment of
three commissioner nominees.
They are Owoseni Ajayi, Commissioner for Justice and
Attorney General; Mr. Kayode Oso as Commissioner for Works and Transport, and
Chief Toyin Ojo as Commissioner for Finance.
It also approved the list of the Caretaker Committees for
the 16 Local Governments.
The House has been taken over by the police.
