The All Progressives Congress in Ekiti State has counseled Governor Ayodele Fayose to always follow legal steps in the governance and financial management of the state.
In a statement issued on Monday in Ado-Ekiti, the State Publicity Secretary of the APC, Taiwo Olatubosun, said the governor breached the constitution by presenting budget to only seven of the 26-member House of Assembly.
He recalled that the seven members of PDP in the Assembly had earlier sat to illegally confirm commissioner-nominees and also approved the dissolution and reconstitution of the local governments, among others.
In a swift reaction, Fayose has counseled the APC to bring back its 19 “runaway lawmakers” to the State, saying, “No individual, group or political party can hold the State to ransom.”
He stated that three unnamed APC lawmakers were present at the sitting on Monday when he made the budget presentation.
Olatunbosun maintained that the “Monday illegal sitting with a full house of thugs was a new dimension to the constitutional breaches and lawlessness by the Executive.
“We never knew that Ekiti people could be brought to this low record in decency and respect for the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by herding thugs to the hallowed chamber of the House of Assembly to join seven members to present state budget.
“The standard practice is for the governor to present the state budget to members in full session while the public sit at the gallery to watch proceedings. But in this instance, thugs intermingled with the lawmakers in a plenary in such a way that you cannot differentiate a lawmaker from a thug.”
The APC spokesman tasked journalists to be professional in their duties to save democracy.
“This is time for activism in journalism. Reporters must begin to ask questions on the abnormality and breaches of the constitution in governance process.”
Olatubosun, who called the attention of Nigerians and lovers of democracy around the world to the reign of impunity in Ekiti State, urged all organs and agencies of government responsible for budget processing not to get themselves involved in any financial transactions based on the “illegal budget”.
He stated that all actions on the budget and transactions involving the features of the budget were illegal until “it is legally presented to a legally constituted House of Assembly composed of 19 members of APC and their seven colleagues in PDP.”
He also called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and Independent Corrupt Practices Commission to beam their lights on government financial transactions in Ekiti State in the face of mindless plot to defraud Ekiti people through illegal conduct in the financial management of public funds.
But reacting through his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Fayose said it was shameful and wicked for the APC and its leaders to think that they can hold the entire people of Ekiti down just because they lost power.
Olayinka, who warned the APC lawmakers of the consequences of losing their seats should they continue to abdicate their legislative duties, added that, “by the rule of the House of Assembly, each member must attend the House sittings for 168 days in a year.”
Stating that the sitting of the House in which the 2015 budget was presented was lawful, he advised the APC to approach the court if it had any genuine complain to make.
Olayinka said, “Today is December 15 and the APC lawmakers know that 2015 Budget must be presented as provided by the 1999 Constitution. Yet, some of the APC lawmakers refused to report in the House of Assembly, except three of them, who are interested in the progress and development of the State.
“The reality is that we are not in the Ekiti of 2007 where the APC (then ACN) lawmakers made presentation of the 2008 budget by the then Governor, Segun Oni, almost impossible.
“The business of government in Ekiti State will not wait for the APC and their retrogressive lawmakers, and the party leaders must know this and advise the former Speaker, Adewale Omirin and his runaway lawmakers to return to Ekiti.”

Ride on my Governor