Members Take over 26-Man Ekiti Assembly Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Hon. Adewale Omirin Appoint protem speaker, clear Fayoses commissioner-nominees APC cries foul, says only seven members held plenary State Govt: Speaker was not impeached, aides sacked Olakiitan Victor in Ado Ekiti In an extra-constitutional move, 10 assembly members on Monday appointed a protem speaker, Hon. Dele Olugbemi, who presided over the state assembly and ratified the three commissioner-nominees sent before the House by Governor Ayodele Fayose. The sitting by the ten members was conducted in the absence of the Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Hon. Adewale Omirin, and other All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers. In a similar manner, the lawmakers also gave Fayose the nod to appoint 12 special advisers and powers to constitute the transition committees for all the sixteen local government areas of the state, pending the time elections are held into the third tier of government. Olugbemi, who was one of the APC lawmakers that defected during Fayose’s inauguration, became the speaker pro-tempore following a motion moved by minority leader and the Leader of Government Business, Hon. Samuel Ajibola, relying on Section 27 of the Standing Order. The assembly, comprising 26 members, has seven PDP lawmakers and 19 APC lawmakers. Though ten people sat to conduct the affairs of the House during the plenary, the Publicity Secretary of the APC, Hon. Taiwo Olatunbosun, insisted that only seven of them were authentic members. Olatunbosun, who described the “invasion” as a coup against democracy and the rule of law, said whatever action taken by the lawmakers and those whose appointments were ratified, was a nullity. Also upbraiding the PDP lawmakers and their allies, Omirin condemned the action of seven PDP lawmakers, “who illegally sat to attempt to change the leadership of the House, but only succeeded in approving the reconstitution of the local governments”. However, in justifying the appointment of a protem speaker to preside over the plenary session, Ajibola quoted Order 27, stating: “In the absence of the speaker and the deputy speaker, the lawmakers can appoint a speaker pro-tempore to perform the functions of the speaker.” He submitted that they took the step, he described as patriotic in the overall interest of Ekiti populace and the future of the state. At Monday’s plenary session, heavily armed anti-riot policemen and men of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps were strategically stationed at the entrance of the House. The armed security personnel frisked vehicles and others coming into the assembly to forestall a breakdown of security. Ajibola, who took charge of the House, prayed the assembly to allow the nominees to be ushered in by the Sergeant-at-Arm, which was unanimously adopted. Subsequently, the assembly ratified the appointments of Mr. Owoseeni Ajayi as the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Kayode Oso as the Commissioner for Works, and Mr. Toyin Ojo as the Commissioner for Finance. Refuting the allegation that the sitting was illegal, Ajibola said ten members of the House sat to take the decision, adding that what the law prescribes is a quorum of nine members. Fayose had in a letter dated November 11 2014, requested the House’s approval for the constitution of the caretaker committees, which was overwhelmingly rejected by members. The majority leader, Hon. Churchill Adedipe, who moved the motion to reject the request, cited a pending case instituted by the caretaker chairmen, who were recently removed by Fayose, contesting the propriety of the governor’s action. Adedipe maintained that it has been a long-standing practice in the House not to discuss any issue pending in court, saying doing so would be tantamount to subjudice. Speaking further on the seizure of the House by the ten lawmakers, the speaker said the seven PDP members, who sat that included the six APC members who defected to the PDP on inauguration day were: Hon. Ajibola Samuel - Ekiti East II, Hon. Adeojo. Alexander - Ekiti South West II, Hon. Adeloye Adeyinka - Ikole I, Hon. Israel Olowo Ajiboye, Hon. Fatunbi Olajide, J. A - Moba II, Hon. Olugbemi Joseph Dele - Ikole II and Hon. Olayinka Modupe Abeni - Ado II. In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Wole Olujobi, Omirin contended that “the seven PDP members also attempted to pass resolutions to ratify the many illegalities of the governor. “We have heard of this reckless abuse of the constitution from other states like stories in the movies, but today before our very eyes, Governor Fayose provided seven members of PDP with 300 armed mobile policemen, complete with armoured vehicles, to conduct a plenary in the House of Assembly to approve the reconstitution of the council caretaker committees and confirmation of the commissioner- nominees without the 19 members of the All Progressives Congress in attendance”. Omirin explained that before the House could sit in his absence, the majority members would write to him for the need to sit, explaining that if approved, a speaker extempore would then be appointed to conduct the business of the day. “Besides, the Ekiti State House of Assembly does not sit for plenary on Mondays,” he said. Similarly, the APC Publicity Secretary added, “Our attention has been drawn to the invasion of the Ekiti State House of Assembly (EKHA) this morning by Governor Ayo Fayose and his attempt to arm twist the house to do his bidding to tinker with the constitution and confer functions on the caretaker chairmen he has set up for the local government councils. “He is forcing his way to inaugurate them in spite of the due legislative process. “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 seven-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. The predictable chaos is here already and we are back to witnessing the reign of terror in Ekiti State.” However, owing to the 10-man sitting in the House, rumours spread in Ekiti that the speaker had been impeached, prompting the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Idowu Adelusi, to deny reports. In a statement, the governor’s spokesman said: “Our attention has been drawn to the news that the Ekiti State speaker has been impeached by seven members. “Well, I am not supposed to respond to the lies aired purposely to misinform members of the public because the legislature is another arm of government and whatever they do in their chamber is their business and the executive arm has nothing to do with that. “If they remove their leaders and appoint new ones, that is their business. However, to educate the public, no speaker was removed. “Nine members of the House sat today to approve the commissioner-nominees, special advisers and the local government caretaker committees for the 16 local government councils. “There are 26 members in the House and the House Standing Order allows a quorum of nine members to sit and appoint a speaker plenipotentiary to preside. So what transpired in the House is within the law.” He added that APC members were only being hypocritical, recalling, “We all know what happened in the APC-controlled House of Assembly in Edo State. For over a year now, the state governor (Adams Oshiomhole) has prevented the lawmakers from sitting. “He said he was going to renovate the assembly complex and PDP lawmakers have been meeting in the dilapidated complex, while APC lawmakers have been meeting at the Government House. “Also, in another APC-led state, Rivers, the judiciary has been shut down for over a year too.” Not satisfied with the burgeoning crisis in the Ekiti assembly, the state government yesterday also stated that it had sacked the political appointees of the leadership of the state House of Assembly. In a statement signed by Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Modupe Alade, the state government said: “The political office holders attached to the speaker and deputy speaker in the Ekiti State House of Assembly are hereby relieved of their duties with immediate effect.” The affected political office holders are: Wole Olujobi, Special Adviser (Media) to the speaker; Ojobamikan Dele, Special Adviser (Political) to the speaker; Lawrence Awelewa, Special Adviser (Special Duties) to the speaker; Omirin Wande. Special Assistant to the speaker on Youth Matters; Orija Samuel, Chief of Staff to the speaker; Sanmi Adeeko, Personal Assistant to the speaker; Taiwo Oluwaleye, Special Assistant to the deputy speaker on Media Matters; and Adedipe Esther, Special Assistant to Majority Leader on Media Matters. According to the statement, all government properties in the possession of the affected appointees should be handed over to the Clerk of the House with immediate effect. One of the affected aides, who spoke on his sack, but preferred not to be named, said: “The governor lacks the power to sack the aides of the speaker and his deputy, who are appointees of the House of Assembly Service Commission, which is a separate arm of government.”
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 06:33:21 +0000
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