A group acting under the banner of Ekiti Development Agenda, has warned stakeholders interfering in the bedlam rocking the Ekiti State House of Assembly against bringing personal vendetta and venom, to avert the already charged situation from festering into a full scale war.
The group stoutly maintained that stakeholders meddling in the factional crisis raging in the legislature was normal and apposite, but cautioned that such shouldn’t be laced with vindictive tendency that could exacerbate the imbroglio.
The body was making copious allusion to the joint statement signed by seven Legal Legends and Senior Advoccates of Nigeria, including Chief Afe Babalola, Wole Olanipekun and five others, labelling the removal of Hon Gboyega Aribisogan as the Speaker of the House as a “coup d’etat”.
The erudite Lawyers in the highly scathing epistle, warned politicians against being despotic and brazenly inordinate in the pursuit of political ambitions, saying Aribisogan’s sudden removal was not only illegal, but a nullity.
The Director, Public Affairs, Ekiti Development Agenda, Mr. Odun Igbalajobi, in a statement made available to newsmen in Ado Ekiti, on Thursday, urged the respectable elderstatesmen to act as true and altruistic arbiters in this matter, rather than taking sides.
Igbalajobi expressed utter displeasure at how the elderstatesmen had fallen for all the stories told by Aribisogan, saying they ought to have been painstaken and took time to also listen to the G17 lawmakers before drawing their hasty conclusion laced with overt diatribes and namescalling.
“Our attention has been drawn to a widely circulated letter on the internal affairs of the Ekiti State House of Assembly by some Ekiti lawyers led by Messrs Afe Babalola, Wole Olanipekun and Femi Falana. The others who signed the letters had no choice in the matter being known appendages of the first two.
“Ordinarily, there is nothing wrong in elders who consider themselves as leaders of thought expressing concern about developments in their state of origin, Ekiti State and no ulterior motive should be read to such. It is however important to expose personal vendetta when it masquerades as public interest. This is unfortunately the case in this current controversy.
“Since the matter that has provided them with the excuse for this intervention may still end in court as they have hinted in their diatribe, we will leave that to the courts to address appropriately when the time comes. What is important to state here is that for the three elders, any discerning mind will know that this is a blatantly partisan interest masquerading as public concern for Ekiti people and her development. We shall explain.
“Anyone reading their letter will see how they strenuously hinted at so called nameless “political marauders”, accepting hook, line and sinker all that was parroted by the renegade member of the House, Gboyega Aribisogan, who has become a willing tool in the luminaries’ hate driven agenda.
“We have searched everywhere in the records for a similar letter by these so called concerned Ekiti elders when Rt Hon Wale Omirin was removed by seven (7) members of the 26 member assembly during Governor Fayose’s tenure and could not find any. If we are not mistaken, Fayose and these 7 members were represented by Dele Adesina in the suit brought by the majority members to reverse the injustice done to them.
“Yet, in the instant case eighteen members of the Ekiti House of Assembly removed their Speaker and the blame is on political marauders as though the Honourable members are kindergarten children who have no sense of proper parliamentary conduct”.
Igbalajobi also disagreed with the unwarranted and undeserved blames being heaped on the police for discharging their statutory responsibility of protecting the lives and property of Nigerians acting on a veracious intelligence gathering and tip offs from the public.
Igbalajobi added; “Besides, if the Police in their wisdom undertook their constitutional duty of protecting lives and property by acting on what they considered as credible intelligence, when some hoodlums attempted to gain entry and burn down the Assembly, why blame the police for doing their job?
“As the Commissioner of Police has consistently explained to those who have asked him about this, including his boss, the Inspector General of Police, not only did he act on credible intelligence, he was also responding to the directive of the Chief Security Officer of the State whose primary responsibility remains the security and welfare of the people of the State. Our revered legal luminaries ought to have found this out before insinuating that the Governor was not responsible for giving the orders to his Commissioner of Police.
“Who then was responsible? Of course, the agent of our legal luminaries, Gboyega Aribisogan, has been everywhere in the media shouting the name of the former Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi as the person who didn’t want him as Speaker, even though 18 of his colleagues took him out. While our legal luminaries tried to strenuously deny that they’d taken Aribisogan’s claim “hook, line and sinker”, any discerning reader can deduce that not only did they believe the cock and bull story, all their actions are being driven by it”.
Igbalajobi described as grossly misplaced, the groundswell of criticisms and insults being hurled at former Governor Kayode Fayemi over the matter, saying the lawmakers are adults , who are sensible and emotionally mobilised enough to handle their won matter.
“And this is why we have taken it upon ourselves to expose these luminaries for what they really are, especially since we also know that Dr Fayemi belongs to the “Silence is Golden” school and would rather continue to extend courtesies to these people who are not deserving of any courtesies.
“For us, it’s time to remove the mask from the masquerades and lay bare the ulterior motives behind this pretentious claims to Ekiti interest.
“First, those who have followed Ekiti politics since 2005 will know where our supposed Elder Statesman stood on the political pendulum and still stands. Chief Afe Babalola can deny it to the gullible that he’s not a politician, but his central role in the imposition of Segun Oni as PDP candidate in the 2007 election, in spite of coming third after Yinka Akerele and Adesegun Ojo is well known. His role in the April 14, 2007 election and the subsequent court case on the side of Oni is also very well known.
“So, it goes without saying that there’s been no love lost between him and Governor Fayemi throughout the latter’s first term in office. And it would be an understatement to say he was relieved, even excited when he thought he had seen the end of Fayemi with the electoral sleight of hand in October 2014. The role he played in that particular election will become public knowledge very soon.
“Notwithstanding his role, Governor Fayemi as a properly brought up Ekiti son extended all courtesies to Chief Afe Babalola upon assuming office as Governor after reclaiming his mandate from court, made him Chairman of the Airport Viability Study Committee, a matter that he was most keenly interested in and helped resolve a major quarell between him and our revered father, Ewi of Ado Ekiti amongst other support to Afe Babalola University.
“Although it was not his wish for Governor Fayemi’s return to Government House, Ado Ekiti in 2018, God’s will prevailed just as it did in 2010 and he returned. Again, we are aware, from our vantage point, that Governor Fayemi put behind him any ill will against Chief Babalola and intimated him he was going to continue from where he stopped on the Airport project. Interestingly, nothing had been done on the project since he left office in 2014. He invited Chief Babalola to join him in the ground breaking ceremony for the airport project in 2019 and the Chief later offered to contribute the Terminal building for the airport.
“Unfortunately this was not to be because the financial support raised for the construction of the airport was ring fenced for the runway and terminal building and the terms and conditions of Finance would be violated if these were not adhered to. Chief Babalola, we learned, was duly informed about the development and he was evidently unhappy with the Governor about this. Indeed, information has it that he is always quick to show the Governor’s letter on the terminal building to any visitor to his office alleging the Governor rebuffed his offer to donate the terminal building at the airport. Yet, we learned the former Governor offered Chief Babalola the option of taking up another facility in the Airport not already covered by existing finance. That’s Governor Fayemi’s offence in addition to his consistent allegations that Governor Fayemi never supported his university the way his blue eyed son, Segun Oni did.
“What perhaps sealed the hate was Biodun Oyebanji’s electoral victory over Segun Oni. In spite of Oyebanji’s best effort not to inherit his hatred of Fayemi by visiting him at regular intervals, Chief Babalola refused to attend his inauguration and fixed his University ceremonies around the same time, specifically to honour his special son, Segun Oni with a honorary doctorate degree for his perennial failed attempts to be Governor, perhaps to spite Fayemi who was finishing his tenure as Governor same week. Thank God Fayemi is a Doctorate degree holder from one of the best Universities in the world and a honorary degree from a backwater University would not have added any feathers to his cap! So, to the discerning mind, it’s clear that this unwarranted intervention in the internal affairs of the House of Assembly by our Elder Statesman is an opportunity to fight Fayemi who is neither a member of the House of Assembly nor the Governor of Ekiti State.
“As for Chief Wole Olanipekun, every information available to us shows that he and Fayemi had a warm and cordial relationship up until when Mr Dayo Akinlaja, SAN, who was Fayemi’s first Attorney General was replaced with Mr Wale Fapohunda, SAN. As a protégé of Chief Olanipekun’s, Mr Akinlaja’s removal created a chasm in that relationship. Chief Olanipekun was to carry that angst into the 2018 election where he chose to play a clearly partisan, but perhaps understandable role in the so-called Ikere Agenda as the Asiwaju of Ikere. At the end of the day, Fayemi won that election and even though the hitherto warm relationship never recovered, Fayemi still went ahead to name Chief Olanipekun as Chancellor of the upgraded Olumilua University. In spite of that, the relationship. would appear to have deteriorated further when the Odo Oja community gained autonomy from the Fayemi administration and the Olukere was crowned as the Monarch.
“So, anyone who sees Chief Olanipekun’s current action as purely an objective step in defence of the rule of law is mistaken. This is clearly the pursuit of an existing cold war by other means in spite of claims by Chief Olanipekun that he loves the current Governor, he perceives Oyebanji’s administration as an extension of the Fayemi administration and remains uncertain if he can have his way with the new Governor on issues of concern.
“With regards to Mr Femi Falana, it is easy to see his role as that of a consistent contrarian against authority considering his toga of human rights activist. That’s the way he would like to be perceived. But more than the two elder statesmen, he’s even more spiteful, vindictive and petty. Of course, given his interest in the gubernatorial seat in the state since the early 2000s, a part of him has always seen Fayemi as a beneficiary of his struggles, since they both come from the human rights community. Although he and Fayemi are not outward enemies, his deep resentment of the former Governor is not at all hidden. For example, our investigations have revealed Falana to be the source of the regular attacks on Fayemi in that scurrilous online rag sheet, Saharareporters including all the recent stories fingering Fayemi as the person behind the Ekiti House of Assembly imbroglio, even without an iota of evidence.
“Additionally, many will recall the Ekiti ministerial saga in 2015 when Falana did everything he could with the assistance of some APC national leaders to secure the Ekiti ministerial slot as Attorney General of the Federation until President Muhammadu Buhari put his foot down on his choice of Minister from Ekiti. As Yoruba elders will always retort, “Ija ilara ki tan boro.”
“The above analysis shows clearly the real faces behind the masks and their motives and intentions. This has little to do with the extensive verbiage in their so called concern about the rule of law and safety of lives in Ekiti. It is pure and simple a pursuit of vendetta against the former Governor. Yet, the former Governor has always been respectful, courteous but principled in his dealings with the three elder luminaries from our investigations.
“However, for what is considered as his strong, independent and stubborn streak by all these elders, he has entered their black book. And for their inability to stop him from returning as Governor, completing his term in office and seamlessly transitioning out of government with the success of his party’s chosen candidate, the never ending bitterness subsist.
“In the course of our investigations, we learned the former Governor even advised the new Governor to try and do what the Ekiti principalities detest him for. He should visit them regularly, humour them and pour encomiums on them so as not to turn them into enemies. It would appear Governor Oyebanji has been doing this but yet he has not satisfied them. It would seem the only thing that will satisfy them is for him to sever all links with his party and the leaders, especially former Governor Fayemi.
“Were this not to be the case, what is the business of any outsider in the choice a political party makes about the leadership of their legislative branch wholly controlled by the same party with no single member of opposition. Especially when the choice of the majority of the legislators has been embraced by the party and the Governor?
“Or is their idea to have an externally controlled, pliable character who has a history of treachery and betrayal and who on account of filthy lucre can be easily manipulated to undermine the Executive branch and create chaos in the State a few months to a general election?
“Instead of hiding behind one finger, those who want to play partisan politics should come into the arena, pick up membership cards of any registered party and context elections.
“Enough of these proxy wars”.