By Gbenga Sodeinde
The crisis rocking Ekiti State House of Assembly over the Speakership seat for some time may have assumed a dangerous trend with allegations and counter-allegations from the deposed Speaker, Gboyega Aribisogan and the new leadership led by the reigning Speaker, Bunmi Adelugba. Gbenga Sodeinde examines the underbelly of the imbroglio in the Ekiti legislature.
Since November 21, when the former Speaker, Rt. Hon. Gboyega Aribisogan was reportedly impeached by his colleagues and hurriedly replaced by the current Speaker, Rt. Hon Olubunmi Adelugba, six days into Aribisogan’s reign; there seem to have been unresolved disagreement, suspicion and factions among the lawmakers.
Upon expression of dissatisfaction by the impeached Speaker, he along side six other colleagues were summarily suspended from all legislative duties till further notice.
Both actions of impeachment of Aribisogan and his suspension with six other members of the State Assembly, were swiftly condemned in strong terms by seven Senior Advocates of Nigeria, SANs who are eminent leaders and stakeholders in Ekiti State, describing such actions as illegal and unconstitutional.
In a statement duly signed by the senior citizens; Chief Afe Babalola, Chief Wole Olanipekun, Mr Dele Adesina, Mr Olu Daramola, Mr Femi Falana, Mr Dayo Akinlaja, and Mr Gboyega Oyewole, they posited that, “Under and by virtue of Section 92 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), once elected by the members of the House, as done in the case of Aribisogan, the Speaker shall continue to be in office during the lifespan of the particular House except, inter alia, removed from office by a resolution of the House of Assembly by the votes of not less than two-third majority of the House.
“It is plain as day that the elected Speaker was not allowed to function in office for the spate of one day before the sealing off of the complex. Pray, therefore, at what point in time could he have committed any infraction of the constitution, any other law or the rules of the House to warrant his supposed removal?
“Assuming without conceding that the Speaker had committed any infraction, was he not entitled to be confronted with the allegation in that respect and given reasonable opportunity to defend himself? If so, when was he accorded that?”
The SANs said Arigbosan’s “illegal” removal has laid the foundations for the possible removal of the Governor if the matter is left unaddressed.
They wrote further; “By their actions, they have demonstrated a penchant for political rascality, impunity, brazenness and recklessness of no mean measure,” the statement reads
“Let it be mentioned and registered, posthaste, without any modicum of equivocation, that the purported impeachment of Hon. Gboyega Aribisogan as well as the announced suspension of seven members of the house is an exercise in utmost futility and, unquestionably, null and void.
“If care is not taken, and if all of us seal our lips, fold our arms and get relaxed on our seats and allow this rascality and impunity to go unchecked, in no distant future, the Governor of the state would be impeached and forced out of office in like manner.”
The Senior Advocates however, asked the new Speaker to resign from her position and quit partaking in an “unlawful enterprise.”
“Pointedly and succinctly asserted, Hon. Olubunmi Adelugba cannot continue in office as Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, and we plead with her to honourably stop parading, presenting or holding herself out as the Speaker of the state, as her so doing constitutes not just an illegality and unconstitutionality, but also a perseverance in such an unlawful enterprise,” they said.
They described the Governor’s silence on the matter as a “threat to peace, order, good governance and harmony in the state to put it mildly and respectfully”, and asked him to rightfully exercise his power as Ekiti’s “Chief Executive Officer”.
They also asked the lawmakers to “appreciate the inviolate nature of the sovereignty of the legislative house, and stop hobnobbing with outsiders or powers-that-be to usurp the powers and jurisdiction, rights and privileges, constitutionally and democratically conferred on them”.
In its response to the petition of the legal luminaries against the impeachment of Aribisogan, the State House of Assembly described the impeachment process as irreversible, and adding that Aribisogan’s impeachment was legal and constitutional, contrary to the position canvassed by the seven Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) led by Chief Afe Babalola.
In a statement by the Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Hon. Adeoye Aribasoye, the Assembly stated that the action taken by the senior lawyers was one-sided and biased.
Also irked the reaction by the seven Ekiti SANs over the impeachment saga, a group under the aegis of Ekiti Agenda accused Afe Babalola, Olanipekun, Falana, others of pursuing personal and individuals agenda in their conclusion over the Ekiti House of Assembly crisis.
The Director of Public Affairs of Ekiti Agenda, Odun Igbalajobi who signed the statement accused the trio of Babalola, Olanipekun and Falana of “partisan interest masquerading as public concern for Ekiti people and her development.”
The statement reads: “Our attention has been drawn to a widely circulated letter on the internal affairs of the Ekiti State House of Assembly by some Ekiti lawyers led by Messrs Afe Babalola, Wole Olanipekun and Femi Falana. The others who signed the letters had no choice in the matter being known appendages of the first two.
“Ordinarily, there is nothing wrong in elders who consider themselves as leaders of thought expressing concern about developments in their state of origin, Ekiti State and no ulterior motive should be read to such. It is however important to expose personal vendetta when it masquerades as public interest. This is unfortunately the case in this current controversy.
“Since the matter that has provided them with the excuse for this intervention may still end in court as they have hinted in their diatribe, we will leave that to the courts to address appropriately when the time comes. What is important to state here is that for the three elders, any discerning mind will know that this is a blatantly partisan interest masquerading as public concern for Ekiti people and her development. We shall explain.
“Anyone reading their letter will see how they strenuously hinted at so called nameless “political marauders”, accepting hook, line and sinker all that was parroted by the renegade member of the House, Gboyega Aribisogan, who has become a willing tool in the luminaries’ hate driven agenda.
“We have searched everywhere in the records for a similar letter by these so-called concerned Ekiti elders when Rt. Hon. Wale Omirin was removed by seven (7) members of the 26 member Assembly during Governor Fayose’s tenure and could not find any. If we are not mistaken, Fayose and these 7 members were represented by Dele Adesina in the suit brought by the majority members to reverse the injustice done to them. Yet, in the instant case eighteen members of the Ekiti House of Assembly removed their Speaker and the blame is on political marauders as though the Honourable members are kindergarten children who have no sense of proper parliamentary conduct.
“Besides, if the Police in their wisdom undertook their constitutional duty of protecting lives and property by acting on what they considered as credible intelligence (which later proved to be correct) when some hoodlums attempted to gain entry and burn down the Assembly, why blame the police for doing their job?
As the Commissioner of Police has consistently explained to those who have asked him about this, including his boss, the Inspector General of Police, not only did he act on credible intelligence, he was also responding to the directive of the Chief Security Officer of the State whose primary responsibility remains the security and welfare of the people of the State. Our revered legal luminaries ought to have found this out before insinuating that the Governor was not responsible for giving the orders to his Commissioner of Police.
“Who then was responsible? Of course, the agent of our legal luminaries, Gboyega Aribisogan, has been everywhere in the media shouting the name of the former Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi as the person who didn’t want him as Speaker, even though 18 of his colleagues voted him out. While our legal luminaries tried to strenuously deny that they’d taken Aribisogan’s claim “hook, line and sinker”, any discerning reader can deduce that not only did they believe the cock and bull story, all their actions are being driven by it. One May ask, whatever happened to the principle of law back by Yoruba tradition on the need for us adjudicators, in the case these elders, to hear the other side. This without much ado is simply a case of the enemy of my enemy is my friend. It would appear that even the new Governor that the three of them all pretend to support is also fair fame for destruction – since, in their view – he’s a product of their enemy No.1, as if he did not overwhelmingly receive the mandate of Ekiti people.
“And this is why we have taken it upon ourselves to expose these luminaries for what they really are, especially since we also know that Dr Fayemi belongs to the “Silence is Golden” school and would rather continue to extend courtesies to these people who are not deserving of any courtesies.
“For us, it’s time to remove the mask from the masquerades and lay bare the ulterior motives behind this pretentious claims to Ekiti interest.
“First, those who have followed Ekiti politics since 2005 will know where our supposed Elder Statesman stood on the political pendulum and still stands. Chief Afe Babalola can deny it to the gullible that he’s not a politician, but his central role in the imposition of Segun Oni as PDP candidate in the 2007 election, in spite of coming third after Yinka Akerele and Adesegun Ojo is well known.
“His role in the April 14, 2007 election and the subsequent court case on the side of Oni is also very well known. So, it goes without saying that there’s been no love lost between him and Governor Fayemi throughout the latter’s first term in office. And it would be an understatement to say he was relieved, even excited when he thought he had seen the end of Fayemi with the electoral sleight of hand in October 2014. The role he played in that particular election will become public knowledge very soon.
“Notwithstanding his role, Governor Fayemi as a properly brought up Ekiti son extended all courtesies to Chief Afe Babalola upon assuming office as Governor after reclaiming his mandate from court, made him Chairman of the Airport Viability Study Committee, a matter that he was most keenly interested in and helped resolve a major quarrel between him and our revered father, Ewi of Ado Ekiti amongst other support to Afe Babalola University.
“Although it was not his wish for Governor Fayemi’s return to Government House, Ado Ekiti in 2018, God’s will prevailed just as it did in 2010 and he returned. Again, we are aware, from our vantage point, that Governor Fayemi put behind him any ill will against Chief Babalola and intimated him he was going to continue from where he stopped on the Airport project.
“Interestingly, nothing had been done on the project since he left office in 2014. He invited Chief Babalola to join him in the ground breaking ceremony for the airport project in 2019 and the Chief later offered to contribute the Terminal building for the airport.
“Unfortunately this was not to be because the financial support raised for the construction of the airport was ring fenced for the runway and terminal building and the terms and conditions of Finance would be violated if these were not adhered to. Chief Babalola, we learned, was duly informed about the development and he was evidently unhappy with the Governor about this,” the statement read in part.
The statement reads further; “Indeed, information has it that he is always quick to show the Governor’s letter on the terminal building to any visitor to his office alleging the Governor rebuffed his offer to donate the terminal building at the airport. Yet, we learned the former Governor offered Chief Babalola the option of taking up another facility in the Airport not already covered by existing finance. That’s Governor Fayemi’s offence in addition to his consistent allegations that Governor Fayemi never supported his university the way his blue eyed son, Segun Oni did.
“What perhaps sealed the hate was Biodun Oyebanji’s electoral victory over Segun Oni. In spite of Oyebanji’s best effort not to inherit his hatred of Fayemi by visiting him at regular intervals, Chief Babalola refused to attend his inauguration and fixed his University ceremonies around the same time, specifically to honour his special son, Segun Oni with a honorary doctorate degree for his perennial failed attempts to be Governor, perhaps to spite Fayemi who was finishing his tenure as Governor same week.
“Thank God Fayemi is a Doctorate degree holder from one of the best Universities in the world and a honorary degree from a backwater University would not have added any feathers to his cap! So, to the discerning mind, it’s clear that this unwarranted intervention in the internal affairs of the House of Assembly by our Elder Statesman is an opportunity to fight Fayemi who is neither a member of the House of Assembly nor the Governor of Ekiti State.
“As for Chief Wole Olanipekun, every information available to us shows that he and Fayemi had a warm and cordial relationship up until when Mr Dayo Akinlaja, SAN, who was Fayemi’s first Attorney General was replaced with Mr Wale Fapohunda, SAN. As a protégé of Chief Olanipekun’s, Mr Akinlaja’s removal created a chasm in that relationship. Chief Olanipekun was to carry that angst into the 2018 election where he chose to play a clearly partisan, but perhaps understandable role in the so-called Ikere Agenda as the Asiwaju of Ikere.
“At the end of the day, Fayemi won that election and even though the hitherto warm relationship never recovered, Fayemi still went ahead to name Chief Olanipekun as Chancellor of the upgraded Olumilua University. In spite of that, the relationship. would appear to have deteriorated further when the Odo Oja community gained autonomy from the Fayemi administration and the Olukere was crowned as the Monarch.
“So, anyone who sees Chief Olanipekun’s current action as purely an objective step in defence of the rule of law is mistaken. This is clearly the pursuit of an existing cold war by other means in spite of claims by Chief Olanipekun that he loves the current Governor, he perceives Oyebanji’s administration as an extension of the Fayemi administration and remains uncertain if he can have his way with the new Governor on issues of concern.
“With regards to Mr Femi Falana, it is easy to see his role as that of a consistent contrarian against authority considering his toga of human rights activist. That’s the way he would like to be perceived.
“But more than the two elder statesmen, he’s even more spiteful, vindictive and petty. Of course, given his interest in the gubernatorial seat in the state since the early 2000s, a part of him has always seen Fayemi as a beneficiary of his struggles, since they both come from the human rights community. Although he and Fayemi are not outward enemies, his deep resentment of the former Governor is not at all hidden.
“For example, our investigations have revealed Falana to be the source of the regular attacks on Fayemi in that scurrilous online rag sheet, Sahara Reporters including all the recent stories fingering Fayemi as the person behind the Ekiti House of Assembly imbroglio, even without an iota of evidence.
“Additionally, many will recall the Ekiti ministerial saga in 2015 when Falana did everything he could with the assistance of some APC national leaders to secure the Ekiti ministerial slot as Attorney General of the Federation until President Muhammadu Buhari put his foot down on his choice of Minister from Ekiti. As Yoruba elders will always retort, “Ija ilara ki tan boro.”
“The above analysis shows clearly the real faces behind the masks and their motives and intentions. This has little to do with the extensive verbiage in their so called concern about the rule of law and safety of lives in Ekiti. It is pure and simple a pursuit of vendetta against the former Governor.
“Yet, the former Governor has always been respectful, courteous but principled in his dealings with the three elder luminaries from our investigations. However, for what is considered as his strong, independent and stubborn streak by all these elders, he has entered their black book.
“And for their inability to stop him from returning as Governor, completing his term in office and seamlessly transitioning out of government with the success of his party’s chosen candidate, the never ending bitterness subsist.
“In the course of our investigations, we learned the former Governor even advised the new Governor to try and do what the Ekiti principalities detest him for. He should visit them regularly, humour them and pour encomiums on them so as not to turn them into enemies.
“It would appear Governor Oyebanji has been doing this but yet he has not satisfied them. It would seem the only thing that will satisfy them is for him to sever all links with his party and the leaders, especially former Governor Fayemi.
“Were this not to be the case, what is the business of any outsider in the choice a political party makes about the leadership of their legislative branch wholly controlled by the same party with no single member of opposition. Especially when the choice of the majority of the legislators has been embraced by the party and the Governor?
“Or is their idea to have an externally controlled, pliable character who has a history of treachery and betrayal and who on account of filthy lucre can be easily manipulated to undermine the Executive branch and create chaos in the State a few months to a general election?
“Instead of hiding behind one finger, those who want to play partisan politics should come into the arena, pick up membership cards of any registered party and context elections.Enough of these proxy wars.” the group concluded.
When the crisis seemed to be getting messier, the Ekiti State Council of Traditional Rulers took it upon itself to call the two parties to together at Ewi of Ado Ekiti’s palace in Ado Ekiti with view to settling the matter, and end of which the traditional rulers advised the impeached Speaker, Aribisogan to withdraw the case in court Immediately.
This was part of the five-point resolution arrived at during a peace meeting brokered by the Ekiti State Council of Traditional Rulers to resolve the dispute brought about by change in leadership in the assembly.
The Ekiti monarchs, led by their Chairman, the Onisan of Isan-Ekiti, Oba Gabriel Adejuwon, in the resolution with the two sides in the dispute reasoned that 22 members in the Assembly have supported the new Speaker, Olubunmi Adelugba.
The traditional rulers called on Aribisogan to go back and join his colleagues and forget about laying claim to the position of Speaker, for the Assembly to move forward and the state to enjoy peace.
But Aribisogan who said he initially said wouldn’t withdraw the case at the palace unless he consult his lawyer later, said there was no going back untill he gets justice from the court.
Sequel to the traditional rulers intervention, the House of Assembly withdrew the suspension of four out of six lawmakers that were suspended alongside with Aribisogan, adding that the Assembly have accepted their apologies.
Then, the House of Assembly spokesperson issued a statement where he declared that Ekiti State House of Assembly is peaceful, insisting that Aribisogan’s impeachment was legal and constitutional, with explanation that the House has neither breached any section of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria nor its own Standing Rules concerning the impeachment.
But, the Assembly peace brokered appeared to be vague and ephemera as the lawmakers cried out, calling on the security agencies to invite Aribisogan over an alleged threat to their lives.
In a five-point resolution passed at plenary, the lawmakers urged the security agencies to invite and investigate the impeached and suspended Speaker, Mr Aribisogan and other suspended lawmakers.
The lawmakers hinged their call on the need to ensure that the lives and properties of members and staff are protected due to the recent calls received by members from the impeached Speaker and his cronies.
The motion, moved by the lawmaker representing Ekiti East Constituency 2, Mr Lateef Akanle, was seconded by Mr Abiodun Fawekun, Ido/Oso Constituency.
Other parts of the motion were to make the suspended Speaker sign an undertaking that nothing untoward will happen to members and that the resolution is transmitted to Governor Biodun Oyebanji for necessary action.
In their various submissions, at the plenary presided by the Speaker, Mrs. Olubunmi Adelugba, the lawmakers supported the motion.
The lawmakers urged the relevant security agencies to address the allegation before it gets out of hand.
As if that was not enough, the crisis assumed a new twist last Tuesday, when Aribisogan petitioned the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Usman Baba Alkali, over alleged threat to his life.
Two of his allies in the Assembly, Tajudeen Akingbolu and Adegoke Olajide, also joined in the petition.
Akingbolu and Olajide along with some lawmakers were suspended indefinitely the same day Aribisogan was impeached and barred from the vicinity of the Assembly Complex.
The petition made available to newsmen was titled: ‘Save my Soul/Appeal for Police Protection’, and dated December 7, 2022.
Aribisogan said three strangers (men) visited his private office and home to make enquiries about his whereabouts, since he had announced his resolve to challenge his removal in court on November 17.
The petition said: “I hereby appeal to the Inspector-General of Police to save me and my family from being eliminated because of my decision to contest election as the Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly.
“Since my purported impeachment and suspension did not follow due process, my two colleagues and I who nominated me for the Speakership election approached Ado Ekiti High Court to nullify the illegal decisions taken by the House of Assembly.
“Immediately I announced my decision to go to court on November 17, three strangers (men) visited my private office and my residence to make enquiries about my whereabouts.
“I immediately relocated my family from my house. I went underground for fear of my life. However, I cannot remain underground permanently. This is why I am appealing to the Inspector General for Police for protection.”
The sacked Speaker of Ekiti State House of Assembly, Olugboyega Aribisogan, has petitioned the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Usman Baba Alkali, over alleged threat to his life.
Two of his allies in the Assembly, Tajudeen Akingbolu and Adegoke Olajide, also joined in the petition.
In all, the current peace and calmness in Ekiti State House of Assembly appeared to be uneasy in view of seemingly unending imbroglio emanated from orchestrated speakership tussle which had resulted in court issue and therefore assuming a dangerous trend of death threats.
The whole world is watching with a bated breath when the 6th Ekiti Assembly would become one again as it has become curious why the latest crisis is happening when all the 25 lawmakers belong to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Will a political solution be found to the disagreement? Will it be eventually resolved by the Judiciary as Aribisogan has taken his case to court? Will the case be concluded before the tenure of the 6th Assembly ends in the first week of June next year?
More and more questions but no answer seems to be forthcoming.