Tension is now brewing in Ekiti State House of
Assembly as lawmakers plot to impeach the
Speaker, Hon. Adewale Omirin.
Also to be removed in the new power game are the
Deputy Speaker, Hon. Taiwo Orisalade; the Majority
leader, Hon Churchill Adedipe; the Chief Whip, Hon.
Ade Ajayi, and other principal officers of the House.
Twenty-five out of 26 members of the present
Assembly are members of the All Progressives
Congress (APC), with only one member, Hon. Oyedele
Ajibola, belonging to the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP), sequel to the defection of Hon. Bunmi
Oriniowo to APC prior to the June 21 governorship
election.
A source in the Assembly confided in newsmen in
Ado Ekiti yesterday that the anti-Speaker lawmakers
were mainly those representing constituencies in
Ekiti North Senatorial district, comprising Ikole,
Ilejemeje, Moba, Ido/Osi and Oye Local Government
Areas of the State.
The new move, which the source said could not be
unconnected with the imminent change of
government in the state, as Governor Kayode
Fayemi’s tenure expires on Wednesday, October 15,
was aimed at balancing the political equation when
the Governor elect, Mr. Ayodele Fayose is sworn-in.
The Speaker, who responded to the rumour, denied
the reports of leadership crisis in the House, saying
the lawmakers are united and remain committed to
the development of the State.
Speaking through his Special Adviser on Media, Wole
Olujobi, Omirin said the rumour is just the figment of
imaginations of those peddling it, noting that the
unity among members is something of pride to
members and Ekiti people in general.
The source said the incumbent governor is from the
North; his Deputy, Prof. Modupe Adelabu, from the
Central, while the speaker is from the South
senatorial districts respectively.
The source relayed to journalists that the equation
will change with the emergence of Fayose, who is
from the Central and his deputy, Dr. Olusola Eleka,
from the South, the same senatorial district with Hon
Omirin, which forms part of the reasons to move for
his ouster, coupled with external interference.
Another reason adduced by the source for the change
of leadership was the fact that the lawmakers were
said to have lamented during a recent visit to a
national leader of the party in Lagos, expressing
disgust at how Fayemi had allegedly treated them in
the last three and half years due to seeming weak
leadership.
The source said the lawmakers later resorted to the
new tactic when they returned to Ekiti, seeing the
Speaker’s removal as the best way to get at the
governor.
The source said: “The Speaker may
be removed anytime from now except he could play a
fast game. Some APC lawmakers are bent on
removing him at all cost, not only to balance the
political equation, but to punish him for the sins he
had committed under Governor Fayemi.”
Rattled by the lawmakers’ desperate move, the
leaders of the party held a truce meeting with the
aggrieved legislators up to midnight on Friday,
urging them to sheathe their swords, which the
source said have been fruitful.
The Speaker has urged Ekiti people to continue to
have faith in their elected representatives in the
House of Assembly, assuring them that members will
not betray them in whatever guise.
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/crisis-hits-ekiti-assembly-as-lawmakers-move-for-speaker-s-impeachment/191064/