-Saharareporters, New York
The planned impeachment of Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose and his deputy, Mrs. Olujimi took an intriguing dimension over the weekend with the wholehearted intervention of PDP’s board of Trustee member, Chief Olabode George as well as Southwest PDP governors who are traveling the length and breadth of the South West trying to locate the state legislators who had served an impeachment notice on the governor and his deputy last Friday.
Chief Olabode George, who faces probe by the EFCC for the embezzlement of N85 billion from the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) while he was board chairman at the NPA is said to be the spearhead of the anti-impeachment movement (Chief Olabode George is also said to collect N5 million "transportation fee" from Governor Fayose each time he visits Ekiti State and enjoy same with other PDP SW governors). He summoned PDP governors to Lagos where they met with him for several hours to discuss the Fayose impeachment saga. Apart from telling the governors to close ranks to save Fayose from impeachment, he also reminded them they the same fate was about to befall Ogun State Governor, Gbenga Daniel who was listed by the EFCC as one of the corrupt governors. (He is accused by the EFCC of using Ogun State money to purchase properties in London as well as awarding contracts to his companies).
The four governors after their meeting at Bode George’s house also went to meet with Chief Afe Babalola to plead with him to let Fayose complete his tenure in Ekiti State, the Ekiti chief was said to have dismissed the plea by the governors telling them that Ekiti elites have made up their mind to drive Fayose and his killer squad out of Ekiti State. Chief Bode George did not attend the meetings with Chief Afe Babalola.
Sources in Ekiti State told Saharareporters that while the South West governors were meeting with Chief Afe Babalola, Chief Bode George who had invited Governor Fayose to Lagos with large sums of money was trying to locate hotel(s) where the state legislators were lodged so that Fayose could strike a financial deal with them to stave off the impeachment plot. The state legislators said to be resolute had to relocate to different hotels since Friday when the impeachment notice became public.
Meanwhile, Governor Fayose sent his men in Ekiti State to start moving out government properties from the state house in Ado Ekiti, they were however intercepted by the SSS and prevented from doing so. They were stopped as they tried making away with vehicles, furniture and flat screen television sets in the official quarters of the governor and some in the government house. As the SSS was stopping his men from carting away state government properties another member of his group was also meeting with student cult groups at the Ekiti State owned university, UNAD where the cult groups were said to be promised huge sums of money if they could help attack his opponents which included Chief Afe Babalola and Barrister Femi Falana. The cult groups were said to have turned down the offer because according to sources they were well aware that the SSS had placed them under surveillance. The governor then moved on to contract one Omolafe Aderiye, the leader of the drivers union in Ado Ekiti with N1 million “mobilization fees” to recruit deadly cult gangs from Edo State University in Ekpoma, the groups should be arriving in Afao Ekiti to camp out at Fayose’s country home if things work out as planned. The police is said to have deployed mobile police units to the homes of Mr. Femi Falana and Chief Afe Babalola in Ekiti State
The scenarios have since multiplied for Fayose, a source said the Obasanjo was briefed about the impeachment plot last night and he seems indifferent asking instead that Fayose be asked to resign while his deputy takes over in order to calm frayed nerves, but this scenario was rejected by the Ekiti elites in Lagos as “unacceptable” since Mrs. Abiodun Olujimi was said to be as corrupt as Fayose and might likely hand over to him if allowed to succeed him. She was also indicted by the EFCC for collecting $50,000 from Biological Concepts the company handling the scam infested “Ekiti Poultry Project”. She is also accused of evading national service known as the “National Youth Corps Service-(NYSC)” her husband is also alleged to be a 419 kingpin as well as an oil bunkerer popularly referred to as “Daddy Warri” in the underworld.
The second scenario is for Fayose to flee Nigeria entirely, a scenario known as the “Glo Exile” named after the mysterious escape of Globacom chairman, Mike Adenuga who fled Nigeria to London. By this plot, Fayose was thinking about first escaping to Gambia where a PDP chieftain and Senator Ibrahim Mantu owns a five-star hotel.
The third scenario is the outright impeachment of Fayose and his deputy while the speaker of Ekiti State house of assembly takes over until 2007 when proper elections can be organized. But president Obasanjo is said to be uncomfortable with this plan because he fears that the opposition figures would capture the state from the PDP in Ekiti State.
A political analyst told Saharareporters that efforts are being made to “ethnicize” the impeachment by Bode George and the South West governors. He wondered why the PDP governors did not rally round Governor Ladoja in Oyo State while he was impeached by Ibadan-based political thug, Chief Lamidi Adedibu.
However, tomorrow there is planned a mass rally by all the political parties in Ekiti State including disaffected members of the PDP in the state. According to one of the planners “It plans to be a mass rally of the disaffected peoples of Ekiti to send a strong message to Fayose and his backers that the time is finally up”
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