“Fayose want to eliminate us n I will not allow myself to be killed he'sbecoming an embarrassment” – Speaker Adewale Omirin

What is the situation of things in Ekiti State following the row between Governor Ayodele Fayose and the 19 All Progressives Congress (APC) legislators?

One of Vanguard correspondent Dapo Akinrefon located the Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Dr Adewale Omirin in hideouts in the Southwest from where he was able to speak on the issues with Governor Ayodele Fayose, the threats against his life, colleagues and the alleged impunities of the governor. Excerpts:

The situation is still as it was since November 17, 2014. We have not been allowed to come to the state by the governor. Each time we say we are coming to the state, he goes on radio announcing to the people that we are bringing thugs and then to the Commissioner of Police to inform him of all these things and before you know it, the state capital is filled with soldiers and police men.

Have you contemplated storming the state with the military, policemen and thugs?

I do not have soldiers and thugs. I am a legislator and a medical doctor, I was not trained along that line. There is no time we planned of bringing anybody to the town. We are elected to lead our people and make laws for the good people of Ekiti state and that is exactly what we wanted to do. As at the time we were driven out of the House of Assembly, we had passed 72 bills in three and half years, which is unprecedented in the history of the state. We have done very well for the state and that is what we were elected to do.

A peace parley was called last Thursday by some elders and leaders of the state led by Chief Afe Babalola (SAN) but you and your colleagues failed to show up. Why?

Our not attending the meeting was borne out of the information we got from the Government House that the governor was planning to arrest one or two of us and keep them till June 5, so that we would not form quorum for the impeachment.

Secondly, when the Assistant Commissioner of Police for Operations for Ekiti state called me, he asked for our route. He said we should follow Owo, Ikare, Imesi, Gbonyin to Ado Ekiti. A journey that was to take us 45 minutes, we were to go and use two and half hours. When I told my members the route they wanted us to follow they said that means they cannot guarantee our safety, otherwise, there is nothing for them (police) picking us from the junction and leading us to Afe Babalola University. Due to lack of security, my colleagues said they were not going.

Now, where would you prefer the peace parley to hold?

I sent a text message to Chief Babalola that a neutral ground would be better for us. It is either Ibadan or in Abuja.

Has he obliged you?

He did not reply the text. I learned Chief Babalola told some people that he would not go outside Ado to do any meeting. We have absolute respect for Chief Babalola, who initiated the peace move even though it was a belated move. We still appreciate him as our father and we give him that respect and regard.

We thank him for putting up that committee but the only issue there is that Chief Babalola does not know the kind of person he is dealing with in the person of Governor Fayose.

We know him very well and we have our information about him. We do not disrespect or disregard Chief Babalola for not attending and we will live to respect him as our father.

Don’t you see the governor’s withdrawal of the lawsuits filed against you as a good development?

He has only withdrawn one but the other one is there. What he is trying to do is to avoid the use of court processes. There are two suits in the same court of jurisdiction it is an abuse of court process. I am sure some people would have told him, that was why he went ahead to withdraw it.

How do you see allegations that one of the reasons you are instituting the impeachment proceedings against Governor Fayose is for the APC to regain power in Ekiti state?

If people are saying that, then they are not being fair to us. If Fayose is impeached today we are going to conduct an election and the PDP might win that election. We are not the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. There is no way we can install any government. What we are saying is about the constitutional breaches and the governor has not been fair to us.

What are these breaches?

The first one he was encouraging seven Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members to screen commissioners, give him the concurrence to dissolve the caretaker committee and permission to appoint Special Advisers.

Illegal budget

The other one is aiding the seven lawmakers to impeach me as Speaker of the House. Another is using the assembly to pass an illegal budget. The budget of a state is a very serious issue. Aside this, the seven of them do not even form a quorum because the quorum of 26 is nine including the presiding officer. That means they have to be 10 in the chamber, it means all they have done so far is null and void. It is an act of Illegality.

As far as I am concerned, Olugbemi as speaker is not known to law, he is Fayose’s speaker. Olugbemi has been there since November 17, he is not recognised because he has not attended the Conference of Speakers meeting. The last time he made an attempt to attend the meeting, he was not allowed and I have been attending that function as Speaker of Ekiti State.

Is it also true that the the non-payment of your allowance is a reason to impeach Fayose?

If they say that I will not dispute that, I felt it was an act of wickedness. We have people who depend on us in our constituencies.

If he has stopped paying our allowances since October 2014, he is denying us and our dependants, which is very unfair and I do not think he has that right. He is actually the one that has been preventing us from coming to the House.

Why have you and your colleagues been staying out of the state?

I have been visiting Ekiti State. For example, in January 5, I was in Ekiti State where I was nearly assassinated. If not that I put a call through to the Commissioner of Police, who came to rescue me, I would have been killed. So in a place where it is not safe for us, I come in and go out unannounced. This man wants to eliminate us and I will not allow myself to be killed.

Do you have fears that this crisis might drag on till the inauguration of the next assembly?

That is what the governor is aiming at. He wants it to drag on so that we can go. It does not matter whether it drags on or not, what is important to us is that we want to tell the world that we will not take rubbish from anybody.

So what will lead to peace between the two parties?

As far as we are concerned, nobody wants any problem. Right from the day the governor assumed office, nobody was ready to have problems with him. We had a meeting with him and we gave him our commitment and our readiness to work with him.

But what the governor told us the first day he met with us was unexpected of a leader of the state. He told us that even if the seven lawmakers elected on the platform of the PDP came to tell him lies, he would believe them than the 19 of us. From the first day, he made that known to us.

For the fact that he has refused to pay our allowances, it is of no importance to us. What is important is for the governor to rule with the fear of God. He is a product of the Nigerian constitution and he should follow that constitution to the last letter.

The act of impunity has gone. I am sure the president of this country is aware of what Fayose has been doing and he has never commented or condemned what the governor of Ekiti is doing. The act of impunity should stop in Ekiti state.

He is becoming an embarrassment to all of us in Ekiti State, we have become a laughing stock to everyone. So, the governor should rule with the fear of God and the rule of law.

We were elected the same way he was elected. We also have the mandate of the people. The future of the state is really important to us. I am ready for peace. What we told him is that he should respect the constitution and return to status quo. I am the authentic speaker of the House and I will not stay under a nonentity.



Vanguard