Anarchy returns to Ekiti?

He was elected governor of Ekiti State in 2003 and was unceremoniously removed in an impeachment exercise. Anybody who ever nursed the idea that Fayose is now a reformed politician, given that he made his reformation a campaign mantra, must be having second thoughts. He is once again on the loose. Immediately after his victory […]

He was elected governor of Ekiti State in 2003 and was unceremoniously removed in an impeachment exercise. Anybody who ever nursed the idea that Fayose is now a reformed politician, given that he made his reformation a campaign mantra, must be having second thoughts. He is once again on the loose. Immediately after his victory in the recent election, he had, in typical garrulous fashion run his mouth loose. Who can blame him though, as only very few politicians with such baggage can stage a comeback in less than a decade.
Since June 21st, he has had harsh words for former President Olusegun Obasanjo and his co-travellers, asking them to either leave or be forced out of the self-styled largest party in Africa, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), if they fail to pledge their loyalty in full to President Goodluck Jonathan’s attempt to return to the office in the forth-coming polls in 2015. That should not cause much apprehension and anxiety as the PDP is well known for its strange ways and practices. However, flowing from his electoral victory and attempts to run a parallel government in Ekiti before October 16th gives room for concern. He has since ordered banks not to obey financial dealings with the government pending his resumption in office.
The state is reeling under the effect of a curfew which Governor Kayode Fayemi declared following the killing of a former NUTRW president, the destruction of the All Progressives Congress secretariat and the Kayode Fayemi Campaign office in Ado-Ekiti. The skirmishes followed a saddening spate of attacks on the judiciary which culminated in the beating of several judiciary workers, including a senior judge. That Nigeria is dancing on the cliff, only short of becoming a banana republic is no longer a matter of conjecture. A socio-political group known as the E-11, had challenged Fayose’s eligibility in the court. Surprisingly, the court presided over by Justice Issac Ogunyemi, which was entertaining the matter was effectively sacked in an unveiled attempt to intimidate and desecrate the temple of justice.
Fayose justified that attack on the court premises, saying the proceedings were a ploy to hijack his mandate. That he remains irredeemably incorrigible is now glaring to observers of the absurdity evolving in Ekiti.  Sane persons in Nigeria, especially members of the bench must ensure that such rascality is sanctioned. If Fayose’s entry into the court with his band of thugs is not instigation to a vicious attack, then his band of unruly supporters acted out of pure mischief. On both counts, they erred.
In Nigeria, we have long endured all manner of oddities but the incident of a judge being assaulted whilst security agencies looked away is reprehensible.

 Rotimi Opeyeoluwa, Legislative Aide, Abuja <[email protected]>;