The Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Gboyega Aribisogan, had described his purported impeachment as unacceptable saying the action amounted to a coup d’etat against the state.
A former governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Olusegun Oni, has condemned the ongoing tussle in the State House of Assembly in choosing the officers and leaders of the legislative arm.
The Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Gboyega Aribisogan, had described his purported impeachment as unacceptable saying the action amounted to a coup d’etat against the state.
SaharaReporters had also reported that since Aribisogan emerged the new speaker of Ekiti State House of Assembly on November 15 against the already anointed Speaker by the powers that be, the House had been thrown into turmoil.
Aribisogan had emerged the new speaker after securing 15 votes out of 25 to replace the late Funminiyi Afuye having defeated the former Chief Whip, Olubunmi Adelugba, who scored 10 votes.
Not satisfied with the outcome, Adelugba who is believed to be the candidate of the former Governor Kayode Fayemi and her group, regrouped on November 21 at the plenary and declared herself elected as the new Speaker following the alleged impeachment of Aribisogan.
They had termed his impeachment as based on his sabotaging the passage of the 2022 appropriation bill among other allegations.
Since the alleged impeachment, there has been widespread condemnation with some calling Adelugba to stop parading herself as Speaker of the Assembly.
SaharaReporters reported that seven senior prominent lawyers from Ekiti origin had described the purported impeachment of Aribisogan as the speaker as unacceptable saying the action amounted to a coup d’etat against the state.
Reacting to the crisis in the state Assembly in statement issued on Thursday, through the Chairman, Media Advisory Council of Segun Oni, Moses Jolayemi, Oni described as injurious to democracy and good governance a situation where "external factors" were now breathing down on the assembly who their leaders should be.
The former governor, who was the flag bearer of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the June, 2022 election, maintained that the lawmakers should be allowed to choose their leaders without any undue influence by "godfathers" who appear determined to run the affairs of the state as their personal fiefdom.
Speaking further on the shenanigans of the All Progressives Congress (APC) led state government and those remote-controlling it, Oni said "We are watching the worrying scenario and how it will play out.”
Oni who is reputed to have granted the legislative arm its deserved autonomy while he held sway as governor, lamented the current situation where members are not allowed to choose their own leaders.
This reprehensible act, Oni said, sits well with the godfathers of the current APC governor, Mr. Biodun Oyebanji, and ominous of what lies ahead of the state under the present leadership.