Peoples Democratic Party members in the state House of Assembly
appointing Dele Olugbemi as Protem Speaker.
The PDP has seven lawmakers in the 26-member assembly but they were
joined by three persons whose identities were as of 7pm on Monday a
subject of controversy.
While the All Progressives Congress claimed that the three were not
members of the assembly, the PDP caucus argued "what we have are
honorary members of the assembly" and not party members.
As early as 7am, a large number of armed policemen used an Armoured
Personnel Carrier to block the entrance to the assembly, allegedly
allowing only the PDP lawmakers in.
Although the Speaker did not show up, his Deputy Speaker, Taiwo
Orisalade, claimed that some APC lawmakers, including himself were
barred from entering the assembly premises by the policemen.
During the plenary, the PDP caucus 'confirmed' the appointment of
three commissioner nominees and caretaker committees for the 16 Local
Government Areas of the state.
The commissioner nominees are Owoseni Ajayi (Justice and Attorney
General), Kayode Oso (Works and Transport), and Toyin Ojo (Finance).
Their confirmation followed the presentation of a list containing
their names by the appointed leader of Government Business for the
day, Mr. Samuel Ajibola.
Ajibola, in an interview with journalists cited the absence of the
Speaker, Adewale Omirin, and Orisalade as the reason for the
appointment of Olugbemi as the protem speaker.
He argued that Section 27 of the Standing Order of the assembly
empowered its(assembly) members to appoint a protem speaker in the
absence of the Speaker and his deputy.
He also insisted that 10 members sat but refused to disclose their
identities and their party.
Ajibola said, "We don't have PDP or APC in the assembly; what we have
are honorary members of the assembly. We don't treat party issues in
the assembly as party members. But when we get to party secretariats,
we talk about party issues.
"What transpired was a continuation of our sitting where we read the
letter of the Governor(Ayo Fayose) requesting the screening and
confirmation of his commissioner nominees."
But Omirin, whose filling station was sealed off a few weeks ago by
the state government and the APC described the sitting by the PDP
lawmakers as illegal.
The speaker, who threatened to go to court, said the seven PDP
members included the six APC members that defected to the PDP on the
day Fayose was inaugurated as governor.
He gave their names as Ajibola Samuel, Adeojo Alexander, Adeloye
Adeyinka, Israel Ajiboye, Fatunbi Olajide , Olugbemi Dele and
Olayinka Modupe Abeni.
A statement by the speaker's Special Adviser on Media, Wole Olujobi,
alleged that the seven PDP lawmakers also attempted to pass
resolutions to ratify the "many illegalities" by the governor.
The statement read in part, "We have heard of this reckless abuse of
the constitution from other states like movies, but today (Monday)
before our very eyes, Governor Fayose provided seven members of the
PDP with 300 armed riot policemen complete with APCs to conduct a
plenary in the assembly to approve the reconstitution of the council
caretaker committees and the confirmation of the commissioner-nominees
without the 19 members of the APC in attendance.
"The prelude to today's(Monday) event was well established, details of
which were published in the media. The first attempt was when they
planned to storm the house with thugs to attack APC members with the
aid of security agents to change the leadership of the assembly.
"The plan was foiled when it leaked. The second attempt was planned in
a hotel where top members, both in Ekiti and outside Ekiti, met to
plan what was carried out this(Monday) morning.
"The governor did a follow-up with threats and coercion, including
freezing the accounts of the assembly, cutting of electricity supply
from the Speaker's Lodge and stopping statutory votes for the
Speaker's upkeep and protocol."
The Speaker added in the statement that although the Fayose
administration did not succeed in changing the leadership of the
assembly , "seven members that fell short of the required nine to
form a quorum sat to illegally approve the reconstitution of the local
government caretaker committees in the state, including confirming the
appointment of the commissioner-nominees who were never screened as
required by the law."
Omirin explained that before the assembly could sit if he was not
available, by law, majority members would write him on the need to
sit.
He added, "Monday, according to the House Standing Rule, is a day for
the parliamentary matters where reports by members from their
constituencies are reviewed and agenda set for the week sittings at
the plenary."But against the rule of the assembly, seven PDP members
led by armed policemen and thugs bundled the Clerk to his office and
at gunpoint removed the mace from his office to illegally conduct the
plenary where they approved the reconstitution of the caretaker
committees in the councils and confirmation of the commissioners.
"To demonstrate that police had interest and were actively involved in
this constitutional breach, they used their trucks to block entrances
to the assembly complex, preventing members of the APC who had one
business or the other to do in the assembly.
"Electronic media were prevented from covering the sitting while
selected print media reporters were allowed in."
Omirin later told journalists in Ikere-Ekiti that the PDP caucus
connived with the governor to import three thugs to form a quorum
during the sitting.
The speaker, who claimed that none of the 19 APC members in the
assembly attended the "illegal sitting," also said that two of them
– Boluade Kehinde and Olasehinde Ogunrinde- had gone into hiding
because they were declared wanted by the state government.
The Majority Leader, Mr. Churchill Adedipe, said, " Some of the
lawmakers that went to the assembly were turned back.
"We will not allow a particular individual to move the state backward.
We can't have a maximum ruler."
Also, the APC in the state argued that only seven members of the
assembly sat instead of nine that are required to form a quorum.
The party, through its Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun,
accused Fayose of compelling the PDP caucus to sit and do his
bidding.
He said, "In his characteristic manner, Fayose this(Monday) morning
went to the hallowed chamber in company with armed soldiers and
policemen, dreadfully garbed, and unleashed terror on the innocent
assembly workers, forced his way in and compelled his seven -man PDP
assembly members to sit and do his bidding.
"We condemn the act in its entirety and we call on all well-meaning
Nigerians to correct Governor Fayose. We have not minced words to
point out the series of constitutional infringements being committed
by Fayose 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 assembly doesn't hold
plenary on Mondays.
"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 APC national leadership which also faulted the sitting, alleged
that over 200 armed policemen offered protection to the seven PDP
members of the assembly.
A statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed,
also claimed that it was aware that President Goodluck Jonathan had
elevated impunity to an art, adding that he had simply overreached
himself with his party's latest show of shame in Ekiti State.
The APC warned Fayose not to throw the state into a needless crisis by
what it described as his trademark "tomfoolery."
The party called on the PDP and the Federal Government to stop
instigating crisis in APC-controlled states.
Fayose has already inaugurated the caretaker committee members.
He urged them to make the welfare of the people their priority and to
ensure the rapid transformation of their LGAs
Defending the composition of the committees, the governor said the
APC members had no moral justification to query his action, since his
predecessor, Kayode Fayemi , did similar thing when he came on board
in 2010.
"The APC are hypocrites. When l was in government in 2006, l put up
elected council officials, Former Governor Segun Oni did his best by
putting up elected council officials. But when Fayemi came in 2010,
they went round the councils and beat up all the elected council
officials and in the process , a life was lost.
" Fayemi was in the saddle for four years and he never conducted
election at the local government level.
"I want anybody that cares to investigate that Fayemi failed to settle
all the debts incurred on the cars distributed to our traditional
rulers and those given out to the market women and other groups ,the
total sum is about N2.2bn.
"The car dealers have been calling me over these debts for sometime now."
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