Aribisogan identified eight lawmakers who were involved in the impeachment even though the House has 26 lawmakers.
Ekiti State Assembly Speaker, Gboyega Aribisogan, has been illegally impeached and suspended indefinitely by some members of the Assembly loyal to former Governor Kayode Fayemi.
Aribisogan identified eight lawmakers who were involved in the impeachment even though the House has 26 lawmakers.
Olubunmi Adelugba, who lost to Aribisogan in the election last Tuesday, has now been elected as the new Speaker.
On Sunday night in an interview on Channels TV, Aribisogan said there were plans to impeach him on Monday (today) and that Fayemi had lodged seven lawmakers he wanted to use in a Guest House.
“The majority of members of Assembly voted for me but few of them who felt perhaps I did not follow the directive of the former governor, Dr Fayemi, thought that they would make the state ungovernable for even the administration,” Aribisogan had said.
“I didn’t have any quarrel with him (Fayemi). I sent a message to him even last night asking, ‘What is happening? Am I no longer one of your loyalists? Why did you not congratulate me?’
“Up till now that I’m speaking with you, he has not done anything. Otherwise, he has been going around calling our members to go and impeach me tomorrow. That is the truth.”
Some lawmakers in the House of Assembly had commenced a closed-door session in the Assembly complex earlier Monday morning.
The assembly complex was under tight security while the impeachment was going on as armed police officers were on Monday stationed around the legislative building.
Aribisogan, who described the impeachment as illegal on Monday, identified some of those involved as “Hon. Jamiu Akeem, Hon Arobasoye Adeoye, Hon. Bode Adeoye, Hon. Lateef Adeoye and all these have been suspended.Hon. Lukas Akanle, Lukas Toyin, Hon Deji Ajayi, Hon Demola Ojo from Ijero, all these that I have mentioned, have been suspended forthwith for bringing in the police and harassing the Clerk and everybody to institute that Illegal impeachment.”
Last Wednesday, SaharaReporters reported that the police invaded the House of Assembly over an alleged security threat to prevent the new Speaker of the House, Gboyega Aribisogan, from taking charge.
But featuring on a Channels TV programme 'Sunday Politics', Aribisogan confirmed that the police invasion of the House was part of the plot to impeach him.
SaharaReporters also earlier reported that Aribisogan accused former Governor Kayode Fayemi of lodging seven lawmakers in a hotel to plot his impeachment.
Aribisogan also accused Fayemi of being behind the crisis in the House of Assembly and sponsoring some disgruntled lawmakers and armed thugs to impeach him.
The newly elected Speaker said seven out of the 26 lawmakers in the Assembly loyal to Fayemi would move to impeach him on Monday (today).
SaharaReporters had reported that Aribisogan was elected as the new Speaker of the Assembly last Tuesday after defeating Mrs. Olubunmi Adelugba from Emure-Ekiti in a keenly contested election.
However, following an alleged intelligence report over a planned invasion by some unidentified thugs, the Commissioner of Police (CP), Adesina Moronkeji, reportedly ordered the Assembly to be shut while workers were ordered to return home, the day after Aribisogan was elected as Speaker.
Armed policemen were stationed at strategic locations in the House to prevent the purported invasion and breakdown of law and order.
SaharaReporters also earlier reported that sources identified Fayemi as being behind the crisis because his candidate, Adelugba lost to Aribisogan, the candidate of the state governor, Oyebanji. It was reported that Fayemi had hoped Adelugba would win so that he could have control of the legislature even while he is out of office.
Regarding the police invasion of the Assembly complex last Wednesday, a source told SaharaReporters that it was all a ploy to disrupt Aribisogan’s reign as the Speaker.
“Fayemi has prevented Aribisogan from taking charge using the police," a source said last Wednesday.
“The commissioner of police claimed they were checking the building for ‘bombs’ and that there was a threat. A certain Superintendent of Police, Marcus Ogundola is the main man Fayemi is using to prevent the Speaker from taking charge,” another source had said.
Ogundola was the commander of the notorious unit of the Nigeria Police Force, the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) before it was disbanded in 2020 after #EndSARS protests.
SARS was notorious for brutality, extrajudicial killings, and human rights abuses.
Former Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, on October 11, 2020, announced the disbandment of the police unit following nationwide protests over the police unit's atrocities.
SaharaReporters also reported that last Sunday, Fayemi summoned top politicians in the state to his house and categorically told them to support Adelugba for the vacant position. He, however, failed to invite the governor to the gathering where the plot was being made to technically give himself a third term in office by retaining control of the House.
Fayemi and Oyebanji, whom he supported to succeed him in office are already at loggerheads less than a month after the latter took the oath of office.