With today’s sudden and historic resignation of Mrs. Ayoka Adebayo as the Resident Electoral Commissioner of Ekiti State, the electoral re-run debacle there may be taking a serious dimension that some observers are likening to the 1993 “June 12” landmark.
Sources deep in the heart of the Independent National Electoral Commission said Mrs. Adebayo’s resignation was designed to undercut plans to use federal security agents to force her into announcing a “doctored result” that had been allegedly compiled by an INEC result compiler, Okey Mbeche. Mr. Mbeche is described as a quiet and skilled INEC operator, with the expertise to doctor INEC results as required, said our sources at the agency. The Ekiti saga got worse yesterday as first, the federal government rejected Mrs. Ayoka Adebayo’s resignation, and then the Inspector General of Police declared her wanted, ordering her to submit herself to either INEC or the nearest police station within 24 hours. {youtube width="600" height="400"}nKo06y8Ci_Q{/youtube}
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The INEC overall boss, Maurice Iwu, had declared her sick one day earlier, a claim repudiated by Mrs. Adebayo’s family, which challenged him to tell the nation the hospital at which she was receiving treatment if she was indeed in poor health. A source close to the presidency told Saharareporters that Yar’adua had held an enlarged crisis meeting with Southwest governors on Monday night. Thereafter, he held another major meeting with members of his kitchen cabinet, including James Ibori, the troubled former governor of Delta State; Bukola Saraki of Kwara State, who doubles as chairman of the Governors Forum; and Mike Aondoakaa, the federal Attorney General.
Inside sources say that those meetings advised Yar’adua to take a firm stand against the opposition in Ekiti so that the resistance against the ruling PDP doesn’t become a standard template for foiling Yar’adua’s second term plans, which continue to attract broad rejection across Nigeria.
To this extent, the Economic and Financinal Crimes commission (EFCC) has been activated to look into a “petition” which is said to allege that Mrs. Adebayo took a bribe of N200 million from former Governor of Lagos State, Ahmed Bola Tinubu to resist the PDP and rubbish the federal government.
A source told Saharareporters that hawks in the government would like to slap Mrs. Adebayo around the same way former Colonel Alilu Akilu slapped Professor Nwosu around during the June 12 saga, with a view to ensuring that her defence of right over wrong does not embolden sympathizers within the government.
This evening, Mrs. Adebayo spoke exclusively to Saharareporters.
Describing the allegation of a bribe as “laughable,” she promised to make herself available in Abuja tomorrow to answer her accusers.
Mrs. Adebayo resigned her appointment yesterday, saying her Christian convictions prevented her from being used to announce fake election results.
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