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.”