-Saharareporters, Lagos
The last may not have been heard about the Ekiti State crisis, according to Saharareporters’s sources, there is a new plan to return the embattled governor to power.
Fayose made several calls yesterday to Ekiti residents in Ado Ekiti and Afao-Ekiti, his hometown to assure them that he will “bounce back”.
It was revealed to Saharareporters that there are three angles to the latest plot. First will be, Fayose’s bossom friend, the Inspector General of Police, Sunday Ehindero, the second is a legal strategy that already kicked off, with an order by a Federal High Court in Akure, Ondo State that security agencies should not arrest Fayose until further notice, and the third is the “Atiku’s fear factor” which will play out at the Senate as the Senate resumes to ratify the state of emergency in Ekiti State.
All of these strategies have kicked off and are going on as planned, “at least we are smooth-sailing so far”, says a source involved in the plot. Lagos is the theatre of this strategy. Fayose is currently hiding in Lagos at the behest of Chief Olabode George, PDP’s Vice chairman in charge of the Southwest zone, also Mrs. Abiodun Olujimi was escorted to Ajunwon area of Lagos yesterday for a possible meeting with Fayose at a secret location. She traveled to Lagos with her full security in spite of the “state of emergency” declared in Ekiti State and sources said she was never detained as previously reported in the media.
The IG’s angle…
Earlier today in at the police headquarters in Abuja, the Inspector General of Police, Sunday Ehindero paraded some persons who confessed to killing PDP gubernatorial candidate, Ayo Daramola, this was an emergency parade of Ayo Daramola killers one week earlier than the police authorities earlier announced to the media. In parading the suspects, namely: Olanipekun Taiwo, Segun Balogun, Busuyi Aladesanmi, Emeka Andrew, Aina Ayorinde Joseph, Felix Anichukwu and Ogbonna Ajah. The IG made a point on insisting that the death of Ayo Daramola was an “armed robbery” incident, the ringleader with the information-(one Olu)-about the killings is said to have been "shot dead by the police as he tried to evade arrest", according to the IG who spoke to a bewildered press corp in a bizarre press conference that left attendees with more questions than answers. Even though the 'surviving' ring leader of the killer gang insisted that he was paid to kill Ayo Daramola by Fayose’s personal assistant, Mr. Goke Olatunji (A payment he put at N1 million of which he was paid a cash advance of N25,000). When it became contentious, the IG told the media men present that because the surviving ring leader could not identify Adegoke Olatunji when they carried out an identitification parade , he (the IG) did not belief the story told by the leader of the killer squad, the ringleader however insist that his "eyes" were hazy supposedly from torture, when the identification parade was carried out. On the killing of a pregnant woman by Fayose’s men, the IG paraded Prince Bamiteko and another herbalist who both denied that they were ever involved in killing any pregnant woman. They instead, said that they had been bribed by some Ekiti indigenes- Babafemi Ojudu and Barrister Femi Falana- to implicate Mr. Fayose by making false statements to the police. Throughout the hurriedly arranged press conference, the IG was the spokesperson for the accused persons. “Correcting” their statements where necessary, and also freely giving his opinion about the criminal activities in Ekiti State, he insisted that investigations where still "ongoing" especially with regards to the points where the paraded men connects their deadly activities with Ayo Fayose. The IG of Police was clearly out to clean up Fayose and exonerate him from any wrong doing in preparation for his return to the government house in Ado Ekiti.
When the IG spoke about each of the accused persons, he was defensive of the role played by those directly linked with Fayose. For instance, when it was the turn of Chief Dayo Okondo, who the IG admitted was involved in the killing of Holland -based Tunde Omojola and two students of the College of Education who embarked on a peaceful protest over the sacking of their provost, the IG said that Chief Okondo and his police orderly fired gunshots at the students in “self-defense” and also later said in “defense of his property” but the IGP could not cover up for Fayose and Chief Okondo on the death of Tunde Omojola, to that he said: “On the murder of Tunde Omojola in May, 2005, also in Ekiti, investigation had revealed that one Chief Dayo Okondo reported to Fayose the negative turn of events at the by-election centre against the PDP and urged him to come in full force”. Speaking further Ehindero said: “A vital witness volunteered statement to state that Adegoke Olatunji, (PA to Fayose) was the first to slap the deceased who was brought on his knees before the governor. Post mortem reports indicate that the deceased died of asphyxia and strangulation”.
However, unknown to Inspector General of Police, Sunday Ehindero, some Ekiti indigenes involved in apprehending Prince Bamiteko had a tape recording of the transactions between the herbalist and Prince Bamiteko. Saharareporters gathered that it took the IG two months after Chief Afe Babalola brought the case to his attention before he acted. Meanwhile another anti-Fayose personae, Chief Segun Erinle who was once a permanent secretary in the ministry of sports in Ekiti State until 2004 when Fayose forced him out of the civil service was assassinated 2:00 am today (Sunday) by unknown persons in Akure, Ondo State.
Alpha Belgore’s (Chief Justice) Supreme Court to the rescue…
Saharareporters had earlier reported that the Chief Justice of the federation and military apologist, Justice Alpha Belgore was involved from the onset to get Fayose off the hook, it was the Chief Justice who first came out openly to condemn the impeachment proceedings in Ekiti State, after which he wrote a secret memo to the IG asking the IG to ensure that he continues to provide security to Fayose and Mrs.Abiodun Olujimi. After Saharareporters exposed his involvement, the CJ disappeared from public view and didn’t make any further comments about the saga in Ekiti State, but he never gave up. Our sources said, it was CJ Alpha Belgore who encouraged Fayose to bring a case before the Supreme Court challenging the declaration of a state of emergency by Obasanjo. “If he didn’t have the CJ’s backing, Fayose knows not to dare Baba” echoed our source. The Supreme Court is expected to make an expedited and final judgment on the impeachment process in favor of Fayose. As soon as the Supreme Court declares Fayose’s impeachment “illegal and unconstitutional” the decisions of the senate, if it favors the state of emergency will be nullified and Fayose can return triumphantly back to the governorship throne in Ekiti State. In this regard, the planned transfer of Ekiti State police commissioner, Mrs. Ivy Okoronkwo had been put on hold. Mrs. Okoronkwo who had since been promoted to a higher position of Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) would stay put in Ekiti State, which is contrary to police operational procedures that requires that officers are transferred to positions commensurate with their rank.
Plan “C”, the Senate hearings billed for next week…
Another strategy is the Senate hearing next week; Senators have already been invited to debate and possibly approve the “State of Emergency” declared by president Obasanjo last week. Chief Bode George and Ahmadu Alli already commenced ‘financial mobilization” of respective senators so that they can throw out the state of emergency imposed by Obasanjo. In order to get through to a wider Senate audience, the PDP chieftains divided up the outreach, a group is currently reaching out to supporters of VP Atiku to sell them the “fear factor” dimension of the state of emergency, this group, Saharareporters learnt was acting on behalf of Chief Bode George and Ahmadu Alli, but they are not telling the Atiku caucus their real motive, instead they are telling Atiku people that if they don’t block Obasanjo in Ekiti State, they won’t be able to stop his final tenure elongation plot which is to declare a nationwide state of emergency early next year, since there are enough trouble spots set up by Obasanjo to create a huge crisis in Nigeria so as to declare a state of emergency and cancel nationwide elections scheduled for April 2007. The Senate action and the Supreme Court strategy were said to be mutually exclusive or symbiotic, most likely the Supreme Court would rely on the Senate ruling or thrash a decision by the Senate if it approves the decision of the president in Ekiti State.
Saharareporters could not reach our Aso Rock sources for reports on the thoughts of Obasanjo on of all these plots! Our source said president Obasanjo was observing a sober day in rememberance of his late wife, Stella Obasanjo.
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