Politics

Ekiti Assembly Gets First Female Speaker as Lawmakers Sack Aribisogan

By Web News 641

The Ekiti State House of Assembly Speaker, Gboyega Aribisogan, has been sacked by members of the House.

Aribisogan was sacked on Monday as Olubunmi Adelugba was elected as the new Speaker.

Seventeen out of the 25 members impeached the Speaker and elected a new one.

The Assembly Complex was earlier sealed as members were embroiled in a controversy following the death of the former Speaker, Funminiyi Afuye.

66-year-old Afuye had died at the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital on October 19, after suffering cardiac arrest.

A month after his demise, the parliament held an election and Aribisogan, who is the representative of Ikole 1 Constituency in the Assembly and a two-term lawmaker, emerged.

Aribisogan had accused former Governor Kayode Fayemi of sponsoring some lawmakers to sack him.

The embattled speaker, who spoke on a Channels TV programme, ‘Sunday Politics’, alleged that the former governor was against his emergence because he was perceived as a betrayer.

He claimed that some lawmakers loyal to Fayemi had perfected plans to impeach him on Monday (today) during plenary.

The former leader of Government Business, who emerged as speaker having polled 15 votes to defeat his rival, Bunmi Adelugba, said happenings in the Assembly since his emergence were plotting to remove him from office and impose Adelugba.

Aribisogan, in his TV interview on Sunday, said, “When Fayemi called us to his residence and said he wanted us to support Hon Adelugba, I stood up to say that could not be done by fiat or by imposition; that we had leaders that we had to consult and that we would get back to them. Ordinarily, we should be looking at the constitution and the standing order of the House.”

He said he still tried to reach Fayemi through a text message on Saturday night, saying, “Up till now, he has not done anything on it, but he has been calling our members to go and impeach me tomorrow (Monday). As I speak with you, seven of our members are locked up in a guest house in Ado Ekiti in cahoots with some of his former aides.

“They don’t want democratic processes to take place in the Assembly and these people are even with arms, saying they are going to assassinate the speaker and take over the place tomorrow (Monday) morning.

“Majority of the members of the Assembly voted for me, but a few of them, who felt that perhaps I did not follow the directive of the former governor of the state, felt that they would make the place ungovernable for my administration.”

The Speaker said, “The Special Adviser on Political Matters to Governor Biodun Oyebanji assured that the government was looking into it and that there would be amicable resolution until about 24 hours ago when we began to see that some clandestine moves are being made to invade the House of Assembly on Monday morning.

“I want prominent people in Ekiti State like Aare Afe Babalola, Chief Wole Olanipekun and Femi Falana and all our traditional rulers to be on the lookout and save democracy in Ekiti State.”

The Special Adviser to Governor Oyebanji on Media, Yinka Oyebode, who spoke on the programme, ruled out chaos in the Assembly.

He said, “I will assure you there won’t be breakdown of law and order on Monday because the governor is in touch with all the warring factions to ensure that they reconcile amicably their differences. I believe that we have absolute confidence in the leadership of the House. They have been there for almost three and half years and it has been rancour-free.”

Attempts to get the reaction of Fayemi were futile as phone calls and a text message to him were not answered or replied to.

Punch/Olaolu Fawole

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Crime

Police Foil Burning of Ekiti Assembly Complex

By Web News 609

Officers of the Ekiti State Police Command have prevented some suspected thugs attempt to attack Ekiti State House of Assembly complex in Ado-Ekiti this morning.

The suspected hoodlums were said to have attempted to gain access into the Assembly complex with the belief that the police officers who had earlier laid siege there for the past four days had left.

The hoodlums were armed with cutlasses and Jerry cans filled with petrol which they wanted to use to set the building on fire.

The policemen on ground stopped them and recovered the fuel and some of the Cutlasses abandoned by the fleeing suspected arsonists.

Confirming the development, the Public Relations Officer of the Ekiti State Police Command, CSP Sunday Abutu, said that the invasion happened in the wee hours of today.

He explained that the development had confirmed the intelligence report received by the Command about a week ago, which necessitated the deployment of additional personnel to secure the Complex.

Csp Abutu said investigation had commenced with the aim of arresting the suspects, urging the public to supply credible intelligence in that regard and to be security conscious.

Olaniyi Alade

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Security

Lawmakers Give Nod to State Police

By Web News 417

Ekiti State House of Assembly has approved the creation of state police and state judicial council in the ongoing fifth alteration to the Amendment to the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The Assembly presided over by the Speaker, Funminiyi Afuye, also aligned with the National Assembly on the alteration to stipulated rules on how the principal officers of the Houses of Assembly should be removed from offices to ensure stability in the system.

The constitutional amendment bill was transmitted to the House of Assembly from the National Assembly in March 2022 for input.

The assembly Leader of Government Business, Gboyega Aribisogan, told journalists that the lawmakers ratified the alteration to the issue of law reform in the country for radical improvement in the qualities of laws that will guide the three arms of government.

Aribisogan said: “At the plenary today, the Assembly approved some areas being considered for an amendment to the 1999 constitution by the National Assembly. What we did was just a concurrence to the amendments and not further alterations to what had been done by the National Assembly.

“These include the approval for the Law mandating the state to have state police to improve security across the county. We also approved a law stating the procedure to be followed for the removal of the principal officers of the Houses of Assembly to ensure stability and improve the quality of governance.

“The Assembly also unanimously approved the alteration to the constitution allowing State to have a law backing the establishment of State Judicial Council just like the National Judicial Council at the federal level so that the Judiciary can be autonomous.

“The Assembly also approved the amendment to the proper regulation of the law reform to ensure that quality laws are made to guarantee good legislation and robust governance and equality in the system,” he said.

Also at the plenary, the Ekiti State Economic Development Council (Amendment) Bill 2022 which deals with the composition and other matters of the Council was also passed, while a bill for the creation of additional three local council development areas and two other bills were considered by the lawmakers.

Punch/Simeon Ugbodovon

News

Ekiti Assembly Passes 2022 Budget, As Gov Fayemi Assents To It

By Web News 560

Ekiti State House of Assembly has passed the 2022 budget proposal submitted to it by Governor Kayode Fayemi two months ago.

The Appropriation bill, christened Budget of Legacy and Consolidation has over 60 billion as recurrent expenditure while capital expenditure would gulp more than 40 billion.

The passage of the 2022 appropriation bill was sequel to the submission of the report of the chairman house committee on Finance and Appropriation, who is the lawmaker representing Emure constituency, Mrs Olubunmi Adelugba.

The lawmakers told the house that the budget was properly scrutinized by the committee with the invitation of officials of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs to defend the budget allocated to their offices.

In his remarks, the speaker of the House, Mr Funminiyi Afuye thanked members of the committee for a job well done.

He advocated the full implementation of the budget to better the lots of the people of Ekiti state.

In the meantime, Governor Kayode Fayemi has assented to the 2022 appropriation bill of over one hundred billion nairas as Passed by the state House of Assembly

At a brief ceremony in Ado Ekiti, Governor Fayemi said that the budget christened “Budget of legacy and consolidation would enable his administration to execute people-oriented projects and complete the ongoing ones across the state.

He stressed that the budget was prepared with inputs from communities through their representatives to ensure that the needs of the people were captured.

The Governor was of the view that the budget would be actualized with improved internally generated revenue, allocation from the federation account and donors from the development partners

He said the budget would also give a strong financial base for the incoming administration to enable it to be able to cope with challenges ahead.

In a remark, the speaker of the Ekiti State House of assembly Mr Funminiyi Afuye said the lawmakers would carry out its oversight
function to ensure that the budget was fully implemented.

Amos Ogunrinde

Politics

Gov. Fayemi’s 2023 Poster: Ekiti Assembly Directs Council Head to Step Aside

By Web News 624

The Ekiti State House of Assembly has directed the Chairman of Ikere Local Government, Mr. Femi Ayodele to step aside for investigation into an alleged disregard for extant regulations.

This followed allegation that Mr Ayodele was responsible for circulating Governor Kayode Fayemi’s campaign posters for the 2023 presidential election online.

The campaign posters was designed with the logo of the All Progressives Congress and picture of Governor Fayemi.

The Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mrs Yemisi Ayokunle said the decision of the House became necessary in order to allow for thorough investigation into the alleged publication in the media, which she claimed was a disregard for extant regulations.

Mrs Ayokunle maintained that the House had committed the matter to its Committee on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs for investigation.

The council chairman is expected to appear before the committee which has seven days to submit its report.

Kayode

Politics

Ekiti Assembly Mobilizes Support for Construction of Rural Roads

By Web News 778

Ekiti State House of Assembly says it will mobilise people across the constituencies for the success of the construction of one thousand kilometres rural roads in partnership between the World Bank and Ekiti State Government.

The Speaker of the House, Mr Funminiyi Afuye stated this in Ado Ekiti while addressing officials of the Ekiti State Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP) who visited the lawmakers.

Mr Afuye said the Assembly members being people’s representatives would take ownership of the projects which would spread across the sixteen local government of the State.

Mr Afuye, who commended Governor Kayode Fayemi’s rural development approach to governance, stated that the rural roads would encourage Farmers to cultivate large farms in order to boost food production in the state.

The Speaker who pointed out that the project would add value to the agricultural sector of the state’s economy, urged the organisation to engage the rural dwellers in the construction works as a way of empowering them.

Earlier, the State Project Coordinator of RAAMP, Mr Sunday Adunmo had briefed the Assembly on the objectives of agency and informed that the governor was able to secure approval for the construction of one thousand kilometres of rural roads across the State.

Mr Adunmo added that the project would curb post-harvest losses and position Ekiti as the food basket of the Southwest.

He disclosed that the RAAMP pilot projects in the state would soon take off and urged the lawmakers to take ownership of the projects to ensure qualitative work.

Oriola Afolabi