The All Progressives Congress (APC) members of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, on Saturday, issued a statement in which they claimed that they had served the state governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose, an impeachment notice.
The 19 APC lawmakers, in an unsigned statement made available to newsmen in Ado Ekiti on Saturday, said, “As a prelude to commencing an impeachment process against Ekiti State Governor Peter Ayodele Fayose, the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Dr Adewale Omirin, has forwarded a notice of gross misconduct to the embattled governor.”
However, Governor Fayose in response to the development said he “advised APC members in the state House of Assembly to stop acting like jesters,” and that “the script being acted by the APC is a failed one because no one, no matter how highly placed will be allowed to test the will of Ekiti people.”The governor, in a statement by his assistant on Public Communication, Lere Olayinka, said, “The purported impeachment notice posted online by the APC lawmakers is a joke of the century,” and claimed that “the Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly is Honourable Dele Olugbemi and not Dr Adewale Omirin.”
The APC lawmakers had said, “Fayose has been in the news for all the wrong reasons, including impunity, brigandage, stalking and other constitutional breaches,” it read.
According to the letter, entitled, “Re: Notice of Allegations of Gross Misconduct” signed by the 19 APC legislators of the house, eight impeachable allegations were levelled against the governor.
“These include invasion of the House of Assembly with thugs and micreants, instigating unconstitutional take over of the House by seven legislators to sit in contravention of section 96(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, prevention of the 19 APC legislative members from performing legislative duties with the use of security agents and armed thugs and sponsoring an unlawful impeachment process in the house.
Other allegations listed in the notice are, “spending Ekiti State funds without the requisite constitutional approval in contravention of the Constitution, running the government of Ekiti State without a legally constituted Executive Council in contravention of Section 192(2) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, operating an illegal 2014 budget as well as sponsoring and instigating illegal sitting of the House in contravention of Section 96(1) of the Constitution.
Fayose who has since received the notice was given seven days to respond to the allegations.
However, Governor Fayose added in his reaction that, “Omirin is already in court, challenging his impeachment, and common sense dictates that when you are challenging an action already taken in court, you have accepted the consequences of such action pending the determination of the suit you filed.
“The APC lawmakers should stop advertising their ignorance and crudity in the market place by posting impeachment notice online.
“Since last year November, these so-called lawmakers abdicated their duties and ran to Lagos only for them to resurface on Wednesday, but they hurriedly ran away again.
“Now they are posting notice of impeachment signed on March 9, 2015 and Ekiti people are asking: was the motion for impeachment moved and adopted in Lagos or Osun State House of Assembly?
“Is impeachment of a governor done along Lagos-Ibadan expressway inside a moving bus?
“Rather than going about advertising their ignorance and crudity, the APC lawmakers should wait for the court to adjudicate on the case they filed, because even the President-elect, Major General Mohammadu Buhari (rtd), will respect the rule of law when he assumes office.”
Meanwhile, Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Honourable Dele Olugbemi, has dismissed the purported notice of impeachment against the state governor and his deputy, Dr Olusola Eleka, by some All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers in the state, describing it as a ploy by the APC to distract the government.
The speaker, who has also petitioned the state’s Commissioner of Police and Director of the Department of State Service (DSS), accused the former Speaker of the House, Dr Adewale Omirin, of forgery, impersonation and attempt to cause breach of public peace.
“The House never sat at any time to deliberate or pass any motion for impeachment of Mr Ayodele Fayose,” he added.
Source: Tribune
