Ekiti Assembly: Relative peace as impeached speaker insists on litigation

The crisis which rocked the Ekiti State House of Assembly following the impeachment of the House Speaker, Rt. Hon. Gboyega Aribisogan, is yet to be over as the embattled former speaker has insisted on going to court to reclaim his seat, Daily Trust reports. The Ekiti State House of Assembly has not known peace following the […]

The crisis which rocked the Ekiti State House of Assembly following the impeachment of the House Speaker, Rt. Hon. Gboyega Aribisogan, is yet to be over as the embattled former speaker has insisted on going to court to reclaim his seat, Daily Trust reports.

The Ekiti State House of Assembly has not known peace following the purported removal of the speaker, Rt. Hon. Gboyega Aribisogan, six days after he was elected by 15 lawmakers to replace Hon Funminiyi Afuye who died in October.

Aribisogan has maintained that a former governor of the state, Kayode Fayemi, masterminded his removal and subsequent replacement with Rt. Hon. Olubunmi Adelugba, who became the first female speaker in the history of the state, a claim the former governor denied through a statement by one of his media aides, Agmad Sajoh.

However, Daily Trust gathered that Fayemi had on November 13, two days after Afuye was buried, informed all the lawmakers elected on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) that Adelugba should emerge as the new speaker.

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Although, the state governor, Biodun Oyebanji was not invited, the meeting was attended by the state party chairman, Paul Omotosho and some former deputy governors of the state – Bisi Egbeyemi, Modupe Adelabu and Abiodun Aluko.

It was gathered that at the meeting held at Fayemi’s residence in Ado-Ekiti, the former minister prevailed on the lawmakers to respect his choice, despite the reservation by some of them that the House should be allowed to elect its leaders. Some of the lawmakers also protested that Fayemi wanted them to work for him after he ensured 15 of them were denied the return ticket of the party in the 2023 election. Aribisogan, according to sources, had told Fayemi that while they respect his choice as their leader, they will also consult their constituencies to guide their actions.

It came as no surprise when Hon. Tajudeen Akingbolu (Ekiti West I/Deputy Leader) nominated the Leader of the House, Aribisogan (Ikole I) to counter the anointed candidate of Fayemi and ‘the party’- Hon Adelugba (Emure/Chief Whip), who was nominated by Hon. Johnson Adeoye (Ekiti West II). While the nomination of Aribisogan was seconded by Hon. Goke Olajide (Efon); Adelugba’s nomination was seconded by Hon. Ademola Ojo (Ijero). Adelugba got 10 votes against the 15 votes of Aribisogan at the end of the process.

However, the party rejected the emergence of the new Speaker while the police took over the Assembly complex, claiming that it has intelligence that some people were planning to bomb the chamber. Six days later, Aribisogan was impeached while Adelugba was elected in a process that many have condemned. 

Constitutional rascality must stop – SANs

Seven Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) from Ekiti State led by Chief Afe Babalola, Wole Olanipekun, Dele Adesina, Olu Daramola, Femi Falana, Dayo Akinlaja and Gboyega Oyewole didn’t mince words in their condemnation. They described the impeachment of Aribisogan as an illegality and use of brute force under democracy. The legal giants posited that the constitutional and democratic rascality must stop henceforth.

“The election that produced a new Speaker, incontrovertibly, took place on Tuesday, the 15th day of November 2022, two members of the house contested for the speakership and at the end of the election, one of the duo, Hon. Gboyega Aribisogan, was declared the winner of the election, having polled 15 votes as against the 10 votes garnered by the other contestant, Hon. Olubunmi Adelugba,” they argued

The leading lawyers cautioned that the legislators should 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.

“To Ekiti people generally, and more particularly the political godfathers, we want to admonish that we should do away with the overbearing, ruthless and negatively audacious attitude and disposition of deliberately embarking on any illegal and unconstitutional means or method of achieving any goal, target or objective, as done in this particular instance, taunting and daring the hapless victims of their illegalities to go to court,” they added in the statement.

The legal icons urged the governor of Ekiti State, Hon. Biodun Oyebanji, to watch his back, saying keeping mute to this allegedly “reckless” abuse of power could boomerang and embolden the lawmakers to go after him in the future. 

The seven senior advocates condemned the speedy way in which the lawmakers were allegedly moved by their godfathers to remove Aribisogan under flimsy excuses.

They averred that the 1999 Constitution as amended stipulated that the embattled Aribisogan ought to be given a fair hearing to defend any infraction he had allegedly committed to warrant impeachment, lamenting that this window was not provided or given a scintilla of consideration.

Traditional rulers seek compromise

Taking a critical look at the crisis, prominent traditional rulers in Ekiti on November 18 met at the Ewi’s Palace in Ado-Ekiti for a peace meeting with all the factions to arrive at an amicable solution that will benefit all parties.

The monarchs include the Chairman Ekiti Council of Obas, Onisan of Isan-Ekiti, Oba Gabriel Adejuwon; the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, Oba Rufus Adejugbe; Ogoga Ikere, Oba Adejimi Adu; Oloye of Oye, Oba Oluwole Ademolaju; Alara of Aramoko, Oba Adegoke Adeyemi; Owa Ajero of Ijero, Oba Adebayo Adewole; Olojudo of Ido, Oba Ilori Faboro; Olomuo of Omuo, Oba Noah Omonigbehin and Alaaye of Efon, Oba Emmanuel Aladejare.

The impeached Speaker of the Assembly, Aribisogan, was told to withdraw the case he filed against his sack from office. They argued that the two-term lawmaker still has a political future in the state.

The five-point resolution arrived at the meeting reasoned that 22 members of the assembly have thrown their weight behind the new Speaker, Adelugba.  The monarchs 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.

The Obas also advised that the majority members of the House must accept Aribisogan back, lift his suspension and drop other punitive measures against him after fulfilling the conditions spelt out for others. 

The Obas also resolved that the state All Progressives Congress (APC) Chairman, Barrister Paul Omotoso, should go back to the party caucus and decide what to do with Aribisogan’s matter with a view to accommodating him as a member of the party.

The monarchs noted that the party should know that some of its members are aggrieved, which led to their decision to disobey the party in the first place. They urged the party leadership to do the needful by always serving the interest of its members. 

‘Court case will continue’

Aribisogan, who maintained his respect for the traditional institution and their intervention in the crisis, pointed out that he had decided to go to court and clear his name, arguing that “once somebody is impeached, he cannot be elected until after 10 years.”

He said the court case was filed to enforce his fundamental human rights, promising that he would go back to his lawyers and feed them back with the resolution of the Ekiti Obas.

Aribisogan pointed out that he was not compelled nor mandated by the traditional rulers to end the case, pointing out that he had asked his lawyers to continue the case.

“We are talking about the constitution of the country and if the party is violating it, I won’t accept it and I have told them I won’t be part of the constitution breach and let me say that at the appropriate time, the court will vindicate me.  I am 60 years old; I have children looking up to me and they will ask me questions. What the former governor is doing now will affect our party at the polls because you can’t claim to be a democrat and be autocratic in doing things, some of us will not stomach it. When people are saying he helped me, I even helped him too, that is the fact in politics, and politicians help themselves.

“For emphasis, the case is in court and I have told my lawyers, led by prominent practitioners from Ekiti State, that I am not withdrawing, there is nothing that will make me withdraw the case. I want Ekiti people to be calm in the face of this unwarranted crisis being perpetrated by the former governor, that they should wait and allow the court to do justice,” he said.

It is unclear if the 25 lawmakers in the state will be able to return peace to the 26-member house before the expiration of the 6th assembly in the state.