Ekiti Assembly Crisis: Count Me Out – Fmr Gov Fayemi

By Ayodele Oni

As fingers are being pointed to the immediate past Governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi that he was the arrow head of uneasy calm at the Ekiti state House of Assembly, he has  come out to put record straight.

Fayemi distanced himself from the impeachment of Gboyega Aribisogan, who was removed by members of the Ekiti State House of Assembly as Speaker on Monday

Aribisogan, who served in that capacity for six days, was succeeded by  Olubunmi Adelugba, who became the first woman to head the parliament in the state.

Aribisogan, specifically accused Fayemi for spear heading his removal due to some irreconcilable  differences.

Speaking during an interview in Channels television, Aribisogan stated that “I tried to reach him (Fayemi) through a text message on Saturday night, Up till now, he has not done anything on it, but he has been calling our members to go and impeach me tomorrow (Monday).

“As I speak with you, seven of our members are locked up in a guest house in Ado Ekiti in cahoots with some of his former aides.

“They don’t want democratic processes to take place in the Assembly and these people are even with arms, saying they are going to assassinate the speaker and take over the place tomorrow (Monday) morning.

“Majority of the members of the Assembly voted for me, but a few of them, who felt that perhaps I did not follow the directive of the former governor of the state, felt that they would make the place ungovernable for my administration.”

But a statement by Fayemi’s Media Office on Monday, signed by Ahmad Sajoh, stated that Fayemi has no hand in the impeachment of the Speaker.

The statement reads: “We note the allegation by the former Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Mr Gboyega Aribisogan, that his impeachment was masterminded by Dr Kayode Fayemi, the immediate past Governor of the state.

“We wish to clarify that Dr Fayemi had nothing to do with the removal of the former Speaker by his peers as this was the internal arrangement of the state House of Assembly.

“We wish to note that even as Governor, Dr Fayemi did not interfere with the independence of the House and respected the principle of separation of powers where the House had freedom to decide on their internal affairs.”