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Akinwande Soji-Ojo
Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, has said he did not interfere in the affairs of the state’s assembly nor had a preferred candidate for any leadership position of the house because it was not appropriate for him to do so.
Oyebanjo said this on Tuesday when the new Speaker of the House, Olubunmi Adelugba, who replaced Gboyega Aribisogan was officially presented to him at his office by the chairman of the All Progressives Congress(APC) in the state, Paul Omotoso.
According to a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Yinka Oyebode, Oyebanji reiterated his commitment to the rule of law and separation of powers in the state.
The governor appreciated the APC leadership in the state for resolving the family disagreement among the state legislators and commended the assembly for demonstrating the confidence their constituents and the leadership of the party reposed in them.
He used the opportunity to appeal to the new Speaker for a speedy passage of the budget that was with the assembly.
He said: “My comment begins with an appreciation to the party leadership for resolving this family disagreement, it’s not a crisis; democracy comes with strains and stresses. There are contestations and disagreements but the beauty of democracy is that there are in-built mechanisms to resolve it.
“And that is what has played out. The APC is one. I’m a loyal member of this party; the APC gave me the platform to stand on, without the APC, I will not be here today.
“I refused from day one to be drawn into it simply because I swore an oath to defend the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The constitution is clear of the powers and functions of all the arms of government. I am leading the executive arm of government, they don’t interfere in what I do and it will be wrong and a violation of the constitution for me to interfere in what is going on in the House of Assembly.
”What I have done as your governor is to ensure that I protect lives and property and that is within my power as the governor of this state. I have not interfered but I’m happy with the outcome. As progressives, we have a culture and the culture is respect for leadership.
“And madam Speaker, our budget is before the House of Assembly and we are working so hard to ensure that we deliver on our promises to Ekiti people but we cannot violate extant rules and regulations. I am appealing for a speedy passage of the budget.
”There are lots of things we ought to have brought before the honourable house but we are waiting for the passage of the budget.
“While congratulating the new Speaker, I will just plead with the party chair to bring in everybody and for the first time, I will have to quickly respond to all the insinuations on the social media on what has happened in the House of Assembly. It’s a family affair and as a family we would resolve it.”
Earlier, the Speaker, Adelugba, dismissed talks of rancour in the house while expressing appreciation to the APC chairman in the state for the role he played in ensuring that the party’s decisions were adhered to.
“All along, everyone refers to Ekiti State House of Assembly as the most peaceful, dutiful, with particular mention of the number of bills that we have passed as we don’t joke with our legislative activities,” she added.
Impeached Ekiti Speaker heads to court
Meanwhile, the impeached Speaker of the House of Assembly, Gboyega Aribisogan, has said that he would begin legal action against his “illegal impeachment” by some members of the legislative body in the week.
Aribisogan, who insisted that due process was not followed, said: “The purported impeachment of Mr Speaker and suspension of seven members are illegal, ultra vires, null and void and of no effect. The actions are not legally sustainable and will definitely be quashed at a court of competent jurisdiction.”
While speaking with news men on Tuesday, the embattled lawmaker, who was impeached on Monday after six days in office as Speaker, and suspended indefinitely, said that he had already dragged the police to court for alleged “illegal occupation” of the assembly complex for six days.
“We are going to court; there is no doubt about that. We are still consulting with our lawyers. It cannot be later than this week. Any moment from now, we are filing our papers in court.
“We had filed an action against the police at the Federal High Court, Ado Ekiti, on Monday. It is about the illegal occupation of Ekiti State House of Assembly for six days; we have sued the police for that. The police illegally sealed the assembly for six days. They have to explain to us with credible evidence,” he said.
Recall that the former majority leader was elected Speaker on November 15 by 15 members of the 25-member assembly.
But 17 lawmakers during a plenary presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Hakeem Jamiu, impeached Aribisogan, accusing him of sabotaging the passage of the 2022 Supplementary Budget Bill.