Tag Archives: Ekiti Assembly

Ekiti Assembly issues warrant of arrest on Fayemi over alleged N40b fraud

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The Ekiti State House of Assembly has pressed further its running battle against the Minister of Solid Minerals, Dr Kayode Fayemi, ordering the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, to arrest him for allegedly misappropriating N40 billion of state funds when he held sway as governor.

The chamber also directed the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Wilson Inalegwu and other security agencies, including the International Police (Interpol), to immediately arrest Fayemi.

At a press conference yesterday in Ado Ekiti, the speaker, Kola Oluwawole as well as chairman, House Committee on Information, Samuel Omotoso and Leader, Tunji Akinyele, said the warrant was to afford the minister the opportunity to clarify some of the allegations of profligacy brought against him.

However, the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) described the order as a joke taken too far.

In a statement, the party’s state spokesman, Taiwo Olatunbosun, described the lawmakers as a “set of idle certificate forgers who are being pushed into issuing a bench warrant against Fayemi by Governor Ayodele Fayose who has usurped their powers by declaring himself the speaker of the House of Assembly.”

Olatunbosun challenged the lawmakers to move freely in Ado Ekiti or at their constituencies, noting: “Most of them are in hiding in the Government House because security agents are looking for them to answer charges of certificate forgery and so, it is baffling that suspected criminals wanted for certificate forgery would be the ones being lined up by the governor to help him divert attention from alleged serial crimes by issuing arrest warrant on an innocent man over trumped-up charges.

“We wonder when it becomes the lot of fugitives to sit in judgment to persecute an innocent, law-abiding citizen and a responsible leader like Fayemi.”

Ekiti Assembly suspends member for alleged disloyalty to Fayose

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The Ekiti State House of Assembly yesterday suspended the Chairman, House Committee on Information, Chief Olugboyega Aribisogan, for 180 legislative days over allegations of holding meetings with a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Abisogan was accused of associating with the Chief Williams Ajayi faction of the party, which is believed to have the backing of Senator Buruji Kashamu representing Ogun East Senatorial District.

The former chairman of the Information Committee was also accused of holding nocturnal meetings with the senator.

The decision to suspend Aribisogan was taken during plenary and a new Chairman, House Committee on Information, Samuel Omotoso was chosen.

Aribisogan was also barred from holding any position of responsibility on behalf of the House during his suspension.

He was also barred from coming around the premises of the Assembly complex.

Reacting to the development, Aribisogan said he would confer with his constituents on whether to seek redress in court over the matter.

He described the decision as a travesty of justice, adding that his suspension was a desperate attempt to emasculate him politically and deny the people of Ikole local council the opportunity to vie for the federal constituency election, which will be jointly held with Oye local council in 2019.

According to him: “This is a complete scam and I am not bothered in any way. I have been presumed guilty before I appeared before the panel, so I am not surprised. How can they force me to confess to an offence I didn’t commit?”

Meanwhile, the state government has started the payment of N5,000 to each of the 10,000 beneficiaries of its social welfare scheme.

The beneficiaries, who are indigent members of the society and cut across various sections of the society, started receiving the first payment through their bank accounts on Wednesday.

In a broadcast in Ado-Ekiti, Fayose announced that the money was being paid directly into the accounts of the beneficiaries.

The governor gave the assurance that despite the economic downturn, his administration would find ways of helping the people to live a comfortable life.

He said the 10,000 beneficiaries were the first phase of the scheme, adding that: “As soon as the economy of the state improves, another 10,000 people will be added.”

He added that beneficiaries were chosen among the physically-challenged, albinos, visually-impaired, the aged, among others.

He explained that by directly crediting the accounts of recipients, the state has eliminated fraud and ensured that the real beneficiaries got the money.

Certificate Forgery: Nine Ekiti Assembly Members To Face Trial

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The Federal Government is planning to prosecute nine out of 26 members of the Ekiti State House of Assembly for alleged forgery of their academic results.

A security said in Abuja on Sunday that  the decision to prosecute them was based on the outcome of “an intensive investigation carried out by the Department of State Services into the state lawmakers’ certificates.’’

The DSS, it was gathered, carried out the investigation into the credentials submitted by the politicians to the Independent National Electoral Commission during the last general elections.

It was gathered that the probe was sequel to a myriad of petitions sent to the agency and the Police by aggrieved members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party and the opposition party in the state, the All Progressives Congress.

Investigation was said to have been carried out in schools allegedly claimed to have been attended by the lawmakers and their former places of work.

The source explained that the files of the affected lawmakers had been sent to the office of the Attorney General of the Federation for prosecution.

The source added, “We have investigated the academic credentials of the lawmakers based on petitions sent to us by the politicians in the state.

“The petitions were based on alleged false declaration of academic qualifications and alleged age falsification in the papers presented to the INEC.

“We have been able to know that petitions against nine members of the State House of Assembly are genuine.

“We have already presented our report and we are expecting the office of the AGF to study it and prepare the charges against the suspects.”

Credit: Punch

PDP Announces Date For National Convention, Blasts Govt. Over Raid Of Ekiti Assembly

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The opposition Peoples Democratic Party will hold its national convention to elect new leaders in May, in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

The date and venue was announced on Monday at the end the 69th meeting of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC), in Abuja.

The communique Of the NEC meeting, which was signed by the party’s national chairman and secretary, Ali Sheriff and Adewale Oladipo respectively also said the NEC approved the time-table for the party’s congresses.

It said congresses would commence on Saturday April 23, while the national convention would hold on Saturday May 21, 2016 in the Rivers state capital.

The NEC also approved the extension of the tenure of office of all organs of the party at all levels until the conduct of congresses and national convention, except those of Edo and Ondo states.

“NEC approved the setting up of four special committees in preparation for the national convention. They are National Convention Committee, Reconciliation Committee, Zoning Committee and Finance Committee,” the communique said.

The PDP NEC also said it had observed the “erosion of fundamental human rights and constitutionally guaranteed personal liberty of Nigerians” especially key leaders of the PDP by the APC-led Federal Government.

The party condemns “the incessant harassment, maltreatment and unlawful incarceration of PDP leaders at various levels by government-controlled law enforcement and prosecution agencies”.

Credit: PremiumTimes

Impeachment: Ex-Speaker Accuses Fayose, Assembly Of Blackmail

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Ex-Speaker of Ekiti State House of Assembly, Adewale Omirin, has said that the public show made of the rejection of his letter to the House seeking the reversal of his impeachment was an attempt to blackmail him.
He said that governor Ayodele Fayose, the Speaker, Hon Kola Oluwawole, and the Clerk of the Assembly, Mr. Tola Esan, had fore-knowledge of the letter he wrote requesting reversal of his impeachment, wondering why they had to make a public show of a legitimate request.
Omirin had, in a letter dated October 15, 2015 and addressed to the Speaker of the Assembly, prayed the House to revert his November 20, 2014 impeachment by seven members of the immediate past House of Assembly and restore all his rights and privileges.

The ex-speaker also urged the Assembly to obliterate the records of the factional speaker, Hon Dele Olugbemi, describing his emergence as a constitutional infarction that should not be contemplated under a democratic setting.
Speaking in Ado-Ekiti during a visit to the secretariat of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Omirin said he had earlier been advised by top members of the party to go to court on the issue, following which he instructed his lawyer to contact the Clerk of the Assembly to request for the extract of November 20, 2014, sitting when the impeachment was carried out.
Omirin alleged that the House, which saw the coming litigation as too diversionary to the current Assembly agreed to begin a process of reversing the impeachment through legislative procedure, which compelled him to write the letter as an instrument for the house to work with.
The Chairman, House Committee on Information, Hon. Gboyega Aribisogan, who responded to Omirin’s allegation said : “As far as this House is concerned, no discussion took place between Omirin and Governor Fayose, the Speaker and the Clerk before the letter was brought to the Assembly.
“What the House did was to react to the letter we deliberated upon and which we published and this should not be mistaken for blackmail.
“We don’t want the matter to be subjected to rumour. The letter is a document of the House and we can do whatever we like with it.”

 

Credit : Vanguard