Governor Fayose, Deputy, others lose bid to stop impeachment

Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose and his deputy, Kolapo Olusola, have raced to a Federal High Court in Abuja to stop the 19 All Progressives Congress members of the state House of Assembly from impeaching them.

But they met a brick wall as the judge, Justice Ahmed Mohammed, turned down their request and granted only the prayers contained in their ex parte application relating to the service of the court processes on the defendants.

Fayose and Olusola, in the ex parte application, asked for an interim order stopping   the impeachment notice served on them and the moves to remove them from office.

Rather than granting the prayers for interim injunction, Justice Mohammed ordered the defendants in the suit, including the Speaker of the House, Adewale Omirin, and the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Ayodeji Daramola, to appear in his court on April 16.

They are to show cause why the order of interim injunctions being sought by the plaintiffs   should not be granted.

Apart from Omirin and   Daramola, the other defendants in the suit are the Inspector-General of Police,   Suleiman Abba, and the Independent National Electoral Commission.

The   plaintiffs, apart from Fayose and Olusola, are the House of Assembly and Olugbemi   Dele, who was appointed by seven Peoples Democratic Party lawmakers as their speaker.

Caution your party members, Adeyeye tells Buhari

Minister of State for Works, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, has asked the President-elect, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd) to caution the All Progressives Congress members in Ekiti State lest they truncate democracy in the country.

The minister, who described the APC desperation to seize power in Ekiti State through the backdoor as a dangerous trend, added that the APC members in the state House of Assembly had been capitalising on Buhari’s victory in the March 28 poll to cause crisis in the state.

Adeyeye said in a statement on Tuesday that the APC should stop behaving like a party of bad losers.

He said, “In 1999, Prof. Tunde Adeniran of the PDP lost to Otunba Niyi Adebayo, Adeniran congratulated the winner. He did not go to court. It was in 2003 that Adebayo lost to Governor Ayodele Fayose that they went to the tribunal.

“Also, when Segun Oni won the election in 2007, these same APC people made Ekiti ungovernable for him.

“In 2011 when Fayose contested senatorial election and lost to Senator Babafemi Ojudu, he did not go to court. None of the PDP National Assembly candidates that lost in 2011 went to court.

“Since they lost the governorship to the PDP nine months ago, they have refused to accept defeat. It was as a result of this desperation to steal Ekiti people’s mandate that Chief Omolafe Aderiye was killed.

“Today (Tuesday) again, they killed Modupe Temitope Olaiya in Efon-Alaaye and one wonders why these APC people derive joy in shedding blood of innocent Ekiti sons and daughters. Why must there be crisis in Ekiti each time the APC elements lose power to the PDP?”

“General Buhari must not let these desperate APC members in Ekiti State drag his name and reputation in the mud by using his name to cause chaos in Ekiti,”the minister added.

Disruptions and chaos in Ekiti

Armed policemen and soldiers took over strategic places in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti state capital on Tuesday as the anti-impeachment protests by the Peoples Democratic Party members entered the second day.

The mayhem which also took place in Igede,   Itawure, Efon Alaaye, Iworoko, Aisegba, Ikere, Ise, Ogotun and Igbemo,   led to the death of one person, accidents and the closure of banks.

Nineteen All Progressives Congress members of the state House of Assembly had served an impeachment notice on Governor Ayodele Fayose, citing eight impeachable offences,   including impunity, violence, stalking and other constitutional breaches, against him.

The protesters, who   converged on   Ajilosun, Ijigbo, the Secretariat Road, Okesa, Ojumose and old garage as early as 6.30am, moved round the city , thereby hindering movements   for several hours.

While some of them made bonfires on the streets, others used broken bottles, wooden chairs and tables to block the highways that   lead to and out of the city.

The development forced private and commercial bus drivers from other parts of the country who pass through the state capital to park until the chaos subsided.

Their passengers panicked as the demonstrators   drove round the streets in commercial buses chanting solidarity songs. They were watched by the heavily-armed soldiers and policemen.

The   security operatives were mostly seen in areas such as the Fajuyi Roundabout, the Governor’s Office Road and the NTA Road where the protesters used luxury buses, tyres and chairs to block them.

But at the Secretariat Road, a   Toyota Hilux van marked AA 363 YEK, conveying some gun-wielding protesters to the assembly premises   ran into a police patrol vehicle, a development that led to the arrest of three of them (protesters).

Among the worst affected by the chaos were   Senior Secondary School 3 pupils presently sitting for the West African Senior School Certificate Examinations outside the capital city who were turned back by the demonstrators.

Many civil servants and traders, who had reported at their places of work and business had to return home in fear.

In spite of the violence, some bank customers in the city were seen using the Automated Teller Machines while those without ATM cards milled round the front of the banks located on the Bank Road, New Garage and Adebayo Road.

An employee of one of the banks told The PUNCH that they took precautionary measures against the current situation in the state.

In Igede, a barricade on the Igede-Iyin-Ado Road led to   accidents.   The PUNCH correspondent in the state was involved in one of them.

Our   correspondent, who was in the community in the heat of the protest rammed his car into another whose   driver suddenly applied the brakes on seeing the barricade.   Although the two cars were badly damaged, the occupants escaped unhurt.

In Efon Alaaye in Efon Local Government Area, a man identified as Modupe Olaiya, was shot dead   as the anti-Fayose impeachment demonstrators took to the streets following rumours that the 19 APC   members were on their way to to the town.

The PUNCH   however gathered that the lawmakers’ convoy was blocked by some youths and soldiers at Itawure, a town between Ekiti and Osun states.

An eyewitness said that Olaiya was shot in the commotion that ensued when the protesters challenged the lawmakers and asked them to return to Osogbo, the Osun State capital.

According to him, the victim   sustained injury from shots fired to scare away the protesters, who took over the Ado-Itawure-Ilesa Road.

But the Assembly Speaker, Adewale Omirin,     described as “untrue,” reports that the convoy of the lawmakers   killed Olaiya.

He said that the claim by   Fayose’s media aide, Lere Olayinka,   that the lawmakers’ convoy killed Olaiya was a “figment of his imagination and one in the series of media spins he had been using to mislead the people to get sympathy.”

Wole Olujobi, the Special Adviser on Media to the speaker said Olayinka was in a familiar terrain of mindless propaganda to mislead the public.

He argued that its members could not have been responsible for the death of anyone in Efon Alaaye when they were turned back by soldiers in Itawure, a distance of about two kilometres.

He added, “The truth is that no one was killed. Nobody saw a dead body on the way up to Itawure junction where the soldiers disallowed us to pass. Itawure junction is not the same as Efon-Alaaye, so we don’t know where he got his story.

“However, we heard that Fayose removed a dead body from the mortuary and presented it to Efon people, claiming that Folorunso Ogundele, a member of the House of Assembly and an indigene of Efon-Alaaye, was the one who pulled the trigger to kill a fellow Efon-Alaaye man in order to instigate violence in the town against him.

“For those who know Fayose very well, this story is typical of his rabble-rousing tactics to cause mob action against opponents.

“It is gratifying that the people were able to quickly decipher that Fayose was up to a mischief to set brothers against brothers.”

The speaker explained that the soldiers who stopped the lawmakers on their way offered no explanation for their action.

“Instead of losing our cool for their strange behaviour, we just left the place,” he stated

The statement added that sources later confirmed that the soldiers were   under a firm instruction of a Brigadier-General to disallow the lawmakers from passing through the check-point.

It said that the Brigadier-General , whose voice was heard among those that were implicated in the leaked audio tape detailing Ekiti election fraud, is the Commander of the Battalion where the soldiers at the check-point were attached.

The lawmakers have however vowed to go ahead with the impeachment proceedings, saying that they   had a constitutional duty and responsibility to probe any infraction of the constitution.

Omirin, his deputy, Tunji Orisalade and the Majority Leader,   Churchill Adedipe, also told a news conference in Osogbo,that the Brigade Commander, 32 Artillery Brigade, Akure, Brig-Gen. Aliyu Momoh, denied   them entry into Ado Ekiti at a military checkpoint in Ita Iwure.

They said that Momoh, who had earlier been accused of alleged connivance with Fayose in the use soldiers to rig the Ekiti State governorship election of 2014, was present at the checkpoint where they were prevented from entering into the state.

The lawmakers, however, commended the Commissioner of Police in Ekiti State, Taiwo Lakanu, for ensuring their protection until they got to the checkpoint.

Adedipe said, “Governor   Fayose used his strategy of criminality and brigandage and we were ambushed by soldiers at the military checkpoint in Ita Iwure.

“We were attacked, the soldiers at the military checkpoint stopped us and they delayed us deliberately for the thugs hired by Fayose to come and attack us there. You will recall that Gen. Momoh, who was pointed in the Ekitigate scandal, was the same General   who was physically present at the checkpoint.

“We called our people who told us that thugs were already coming to attack us there and we turned back.

“We are calling the attention of the whole world to the unholy alliance between Fayose and the general. “

They also alleged that Fayose had concluded plans to begin to raze their business interests in Ekiti State from Tuesday night.

Adedipe said   the police arrested a commissioner in Ekiti State with a pump action rifle and another governor’s aide with acid with were to used to attack them.

He however did not give the name of the commissioner.

The Ekiti State Police Commissioner, Taiwo Lakanu, had last Wednesday shut the House of Assembly and deployed personnel and Armoured Personnel Carriers to the state’s flash points.

The assembly complex is still under watch by   policemen.

The Head of Service, Gbenga Faseluka, and organised labour also on Tuesday besieged the assembly in protest and warned the lawmakers against plunging the state into violence.

Organised labour, in a joint statement by the Nigeria Labour Congres Secretary, Ade Obatoye; the Trade Union Congress Secretary, Joseph Adebayo, and the Joint Negotiation Council Secretary, Oladele Ayodeji, enjoined the entire workforce to see the present development in the state as a way of fomenting trouble and putting their lives at risk.

Also, the people of Igbemo Ekiti led by one Chief Agamago Adetunji, had during a solidarity visit to Fayoase said, ”We are solidly behind you. Ekiti people elected you to be their leader and no power under the earth can remove you.

The Deputy Governor,   Kolapo Olusola, who received the delegation on behalf of the governor likened the APC lawmakers action to the biblical war of Egypt against the people of Israel.

He expressed confidence that the governor would triumph over his enemies.

“This Egyptian war led by the APC will be defeated. Governor Fayose did not elect himself, but you put him there. This is just a passage and it will go by the grace of God. I want to assure you that we will see no more this war against an anointed man in few days time,” Olusola boasted.

Also, a group of protesters led by   Agamego Adetunji from Igbemo Ekiti in Irepodun/Ifelodun LGA   paid a solidarity visit to the governor in his office.

The group, comprising PDP members in the LGA, carried placards   with inscriptions like ‘Igbemo is for PDP not for APC,’ ‘Fayose is our father in Igbemo just like Afao,’ ‘Fayose, Senior Advocate of the Masses,’ and ‘Igbemo people solidly behind Fayose.’

Olusola, who also received the delegation, thanked them for standing by the governor.

He said, ‘‘This solidarity visit shows that you still support us. God will destroy those who vowed to destroy Ekiti. We appreciate you. Nothing will shake this government. This Egyptian war being led by the APC, we will see it no more. At the end of the day, we will come together to celebrate.’’

Meanwhile, the Ekiti State Council of Traditional Rulers will on Thursday meet to deliberate on the ongoing political crisis in the state.

The Chairman of the council and the Onitaji of Itaji Ekiti, Oba Adamo Babalola, said   on Tuesday that they   would not fold their arms and watch the situation degenerate.

Warning against recourse to violence, Babalola said, “We have been told the runaway legislators are coming back to Ekiti State and that impeachment notice has been served.

“I don’t know whether that is true, but we need to give peace a chance and allow the Obas to come in to deliberate on the matter.

“We have made attempts several times to settle the dispute between the executive and the legislative arms. The legislators did not answer us. I don’t know why coming to Ekiti should involve impeachment. We will hold a meeting on Thursday to deliberate on the matter.’’

Source: The Punch

As Naira rise,Use dollars for local transactions or risk jail says CBN

The Central Bank of Nigeria on Tuesday raised concerns over the increasing use of foreign currencies as a medium of exchange in the country and warned that persons caught in the illegal act risked a six-month jail term upon conviction.

The central bank said in a statement that some individuals and corporate bodies had been using foreign currencies, especially the United States dollar, to price some of their products and services, and were also using same as a medium of exchange.

The development, the bank said, was against the provisions of the CBN Act, 2007, and asked members of the public to report anyone caught transaction business in the country in foreign currencies to it or the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

The statement issued by the Director, Corporate Communications, CBN, Mr. Ibrahim Muazu, read, “The attention of the bank has been drawn to the increasing use of foreign currencies in the domestic economy as a medium of payment for goods and services by individuals and corporates.

“It has also been observed that some institutions price their goods and services in foreign currencies and demand payment in foreign currencies rather than the domestic currency (the naira), which is the legal tender in Nigeria.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the attention of the general public is hereby drawn to the provision of the CBN Act of 2007, which states inter-alia that ‘the currency notes issued by the bank shall be legal tender in Nigeria…for the payment of any amount.’”

It added, “Furthermore, the Act stipulates that any person(s) who contravenes this provision is guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a prescribed fine or six months imprisonment.

“This prohibition, however, is without prejudice to foreigners, visitors and tourists who are encouraged to continue to use their cards for payments or exchange their foreign currencies for the local currency at any of the authorised dealers’ outposts.

“The general public is hereby advised to report any contravention of the provision of this Act to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the CBN for appropriate action.”

Meanwhile, the naira fell to 204 against the dollar at the parallel market on Tuesday as politicians were said to be engaged in massive purchase of the greenback ahead of the governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections on Saturday.

The naira had risen to 190 against the United States currency on Sunday following the peaceful conduct of the presidential election.

Foreign exchange dealers, who spoke with our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, said the naira tumbled on Tuesday after politicians mopped up dollars on the streets of Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt.

“The naira is falling because politicians are buying dollars massively on the street market to fund the campaigns ahead of the governorship and states’ Houses of Assembly elections on Saturday,” one of the dealers said.

Buhari have my back says Clark

A former Minister of Information, Chief Edwin Clark, has pledged to work with the President -elect, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).

He said he would support him the way he supported the late President, Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua.

Clark stated this in a congratulatory message he sent to Buhari, who defeated President Goodluck Jonathan in the March 28 presidential election.

President Jonathan, who Clark supported passionately, was the presidential candidate of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party in the election.

He said, “I congratulate you and reassure you that as you get to commence the process of peaceful transition and government, you will have my full support, as a man who strongly believes in the unity of Nigeria. Just as I supported our most respected late President, Umaru Yar’Adua and his successor, President Jonathan as long as you will at all times uphold the dignity of Nigeria and those things that bind us together as one united country.

“Remember that part of our old National Anthem which says ‘Though tribe and tongue may differ, in brotherhood we stand.’

“This was exactly what the late Nelson Mandela of South Africa stood for, and the late Martin Luther King Jnr. of the United States of America fought and died for.”

He said he was happy that the President conceded defeat, an action he said disappointed the nation’s detractors both within and outside the country.

These unnamed enemies, he said, had thought that the result of the elections would not be accepted by any of the two major contestants and thereby create crisis for the country.

If this had been done, he said the action would have satisfied those prophets of doom who he said felt there would be no more Nigeria after the 2015 general elections.

Clark however insisted that every Nigerian must be treated equally and respected.

Forgive Akiolu,President-elect. Buhari appeal to igbos

The President-elect, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has urged the Ndigbo and other non-indigenes in Lagos State to forgive all that has been said against them and move on for the sake of peace.

Buhari said this during a rally in Lagos to address the comments made by the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu.

Akiolu has been under fire since Monday when he reportedly threatened the Ndigbo in Lagos to either vote for the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, or perish in the lagoon.

The Peoples Democratic Party on Tuesday asked Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola to suspend Akiolu forthwith.

However, the President-elect described Lagos as home for all, adding that the time had come for Nigerians to look past ethnicity in the general interest of peace and unity.

He said, “I admire what your governor has done in terms of mobilising revenue to sustain Lagos development. I have a lot of respect for Governor Fashola for his hard work, commitment to the state and the country. There is no doubt that Lagos is a mini-Nigeria. We are all here and it has been mentioned by previous speakers that everybody (tribe) is adequately represented in Lagos.

“So, I assure you. If you vote for the continuity of APC in Lagos, you stand to gain more. It is in your interest that you vote for the APC.

“Please when you go home tell your neighbours, relatives and even the opposition to please bury the hatchet. Let them fall in line and vote the APC.

“When we were coming in our bus, Fashola told me how Lagos State had been spending to maintain the federal infrastructure here such as buildings, roads and other institutions. I had promised before that if I won the election and became the President, I would make Lagos my priority. Governor Fashola is already holding to me to that promise so I would like the incoming governor to listen carefully and make sure he makes me honour my undertaking.”

The National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, said Lagos was responsible for building the opposition and ensuring that it finally took control of the centre.

He said it would be a great injustice for Lagos to become an opposition state after working so hard to build a bright future.

Akinolu can’t speak for APC –Tinubu

Also speaking, a former Governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, said Akiolu was not a member of the APC and could not speak on behalf of the party.

Tinubu, who noted that he was the first Yoruba governor to ever appoint an Igbo commissioner, said the Peoples Democratic Party, having failed to win last week’s presidential elections, had been desperately trying to pull the APC into the Akiolu controversy.

He said the coordinator of the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria, Ifeanyi Ubah, and the PDP leader, Bode George, were only making baseless accusations against the APC.

Tinubu said, “The Oba is not a politician. His job is to accommodate all political parties whether PDP, APC or SDP. So, what did he (Ubah) go and do at the palace? Is the Oba a politician?

“To you Igbo, don’t we pay your children’s school fees like others? Or is it the palace that pays for it? When we conducted an exam and a spelling competition, an Igbo boy, Ebuka, from Anambra, came first and he became the governor for one day.

“Those that won the competition three times in a row were Igbo. Ebuka was sent to Switzerland computer school and then Obafemi Awolowo University. We did not say he was an Igbo boy and he would not enjoy. He became an executive in Oando and he is now in Canada.

“Another boy, Felix, won and went to Switzerland and OAU. We paid his scholarship; we did not deny him because he is Igbo.”

‘Suspend him now’

But the PDP said the Lagos monarch should be on suspension till after Saturday’s governorship and state House of Assembly elections in order to guarantee free, fair and credible elections in the state.

In a statement issued on Tuesday by Lagos PDP Publicity Secretary, Mr. Taofik Gani, the party said it had also alerted the security agencies to hold the monarch responsible for any attack on non-indigenes or PDP members in Lagos.

The statement read in part, “The governor is thus a conspirator in this threat to life and must also be held accountable for any violence in these elections. We have at this point been vindicated about the desperation of the APC to retain Lagos State at all cost, including the All Progressives Congress’ plan not to concede the imminent defeat on April 11.

“The positions of the PDP are coming on the heels of the now viral threat issued by the Oba of Lagos to Ndigbo that they must vote for the APC governorship candidate, Akinwunmi Ambode, or be drowned in Lagos water.”

Despite the alleged threat to their lives, PDP urged Lagos non-indigenes and others to be part of Saturday’s voting exercise.

Monarch spoke out of anger –APC

Meanwhile, the Publicity Secretary of the APC in Lagos State, Joe Igbokwe, said in a separate statement on Tuesday that the monarch spoke out of anger.

Igbokwe urged his kinsmen not to take out their anger on the APC governorship candidate, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, who knew nothing about the incident.

The statement read, “Oba Rilwan Akiolu of Lagos is not a card-carrying member of APC. He is not a leader in the APC. He does not speak for the APC. He did not speak for Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State.

“He did not speak for our national leader, Bola Tinubu. He did not speak for the incoming governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode. His Royal Highness is at liberty to speak for him and he spoke for himself only.

“Lagos APC appeals to Ndigbo not to take the statement as the position of the party in Lagos. We passionately appeal to Ndigbo not to carry the statement credited to Oba Akiolu too far so as not to put a knife on things that have held us together for more than 50 years now. If out of annoyance you throw your cap away, a mad man will take it and use it forever.”

APC wins 214 House of Reps’ seats,Now in majority

 The All Progressives Congress will firmly be in control of the 8th House of Representatives as the majority party with over 214 members.

There are a total of 360 seats in the second chamber of the National Assembly.

Figures emerging from the outcome of the March 28 National Assembly poll, show that APC members are now 214, against the Peoples Democratic Party, which has 125 lawmakers.

The statistics gives a gap of 89 between the APC and the PDP in favour of the former.

The figures, which The PUNCH obtained on Tuesday, exclude the 11 federal constituency seats in Jigawa State, where election has yet to be conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

When elections for the 11 seats are conducted, the APC will possibly get additional seats, meaning that its numerical strength in the House may be well above 214 at inauguration on June 6.

Three other political parties, Labour Party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance and Accord Party, share the balance of 10 seats, bringing the total to 360.

The distribution of the figures shows that the APC has the highest membership haul from the North-West with 81 lawmakers, as against the PDP’s zero score for now.

It is followed by the South-West, where it won 47 seats compared to the PDP’s 20.

In the North-Central, the party got 41 seats and left eight for the PDP.

The APC’s performance in the North-East was 40 as against the seven seats won by the PDP.

The PDP’s strongest zone is the South-South, where it produced 52 members, compared to the APC’s three. The three seats came from Edo State.

The current majority party won 38 seats in the South-East, leaving only three for the APC in Imo State.

A further breakdown indicates that the APC did not win any seat in Ebonyi, Anambra, Enugu and Abia states.

Same goes for the South-South states of Rivers, Delta, Akwa Ibom, Cross Rivers and Bayelsa, where it did not produce any lawmaker.

However, the APC took all the seats in Kano, Katsina, Kaduna, Zamfara, Sokoto and Kebbi in the North-West.

In its second strongest zone (South-West), it got 19 seats out of 24 in Lagos; 12 in Oyo State; seven in Osun; five in Ondo and four in Ogun.

The PDP cleared all the six seats in Ekiti State.

In the North-Central axis, APC won all seats in Kogi, Kwara and Niger states. It won eight out of 11 in Benue; six out of eight in Plateau; and two out of five in Nasarawa State.

Similarly, it amassed all the seats in Bauchi and Borno states.

But, in Adamawa, the APC has seven, the PDP (one); Gombe, the APC has four, PDP (two); Taraba, APC two, PDP (three); and Yobe, APC five, PDP (one).

At the inauguration of the 7th Assembly on June 6, 2011, the PDP was in clear majority with around 208 lawmakers. The defunct Action Congress of Nigeria had about 70 members, followed by the then Congress for Progressive Change, which had around 40 lawmakers.

Following the historic merger in 2013 between the ACN, CPC and the All Nigerian Peoples Party to form the APC, the PDP began rapidly to lose its control of the House.

In December of the same year, 37 PDP members moved in one day to the APC. More defections followed in the run up to the last elections.

It was capped on October 28, 2014, with the defection of the Speaker, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal, a PDP lawmaker, to the APC.

By the time the two parties went for the March 28 polls, the APC’s membership in the House had risen to above 180, while the PDP fell to between 158 and 160.

The outcome of the polls further confirmed the APC’s control of the House and positioned it to produce the Speaker, Deputy Speaker, Majority Leader, Chief Whip and Deputy Majority Leader of the in-coming 8th Assembly.

now that PDP has been demoted to minority or the main opposition party, the outgoing Deputy Majority Leader, Mr. Leo Ogor, described it as “democracy at play,” though he assured Nigerians that the PDP would bounce back.