Members of the Ekiti State House of Assembly have taken their protest<\/p>\n
over the armed men of the Department of State Services (DSS) Friday,
\nMarch 4, 2016, invasion of the House of Assembly complex and
\nsubsequent abduction of four of the assembly members, calling on the
\ninternational community to intervene and save democracy in Nigeria
\nfrom imminent collapse.<\/p>\n
Speaker of the House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Kola Oluwawole, who led 18
\nother members including the Deputy Speaker; Hon Segun Adewumi and
\nHouse Leader; Hon Adetunji Akinyele submitted a letter titled; \u201cRe;
\nPolitical Intolerance in Ekiti State,\u201d and the resolution passed at
\nits sitting of Wednesday, March 9, 2016 in which the lawmakers stated
\nexpressly that they were solidly behind the State Governor, Mr Ayodele
\nFayose and can never be coerced or induced to sign any impeachment
\nnotice against him.<\/p>\n
Carrying placards with various inscriptions; the lawmakers said; \u201cWe
\nwant to state here categorically that no amount of intimidation,
\nharassment and oppression will make us impeach our leader and
\nbenefactor, Governor Ayodele Fayose. The DSS should therefore know
\nthat the 2006 theory they are working on will not work this time
\naround.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some of the inscriptions on the placards read; \u201cDSS harassment is
\nabout 2018, we won\u2019t be cowed,\u201d DSS, face this impunity must stop!
\nThis is democracy, not dictatorship,\u201d DSS, don\u2019t destroy our
\ndemocracy, respect rule of law,\u201dFayose remains our leader, we won\u2019t
\nimpeach him,\u201d \u201cNigerians need change, not chains,\u201d \u201cBuhari, face
\neconomy and security, not opposition,\u201d and \u201cDSS, free Ekiti lawmakers;
\nwe are legislators, not criminals.\u201d<\/p>\n
The lawmakers who spoke, Dr Samuel Omotoso, Hon Gboyega Aribisogan and
\nHon Adewumi alleged that they were being harassed, with some of their
\nhouses being visited by men who claimed to be DSS officials.<\/p>\n
They contended that the process of abduction of the four assembly men
\nwas illegal, crude, uncivilised and barbaric because the DSS neither
\nformally informed the Speaker nor the State governor of their
\nintention to arrest any member of the House of Assembly or Ekiti State
\nGovernment.<\/p>\n
The protest letter read in part; \u201cThe federal Government set up an
\ninglorious military panel to probe the level of security involvement
\nin that peaceful Governorship Election of 21st June 2014. These were
\nthe same security agencies that had been commended for their
\nefficiency in that election. The Federal Government is bent on
\nscuttling the election of Governor Ayodele Fayose through diabolical
\nmeans.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the failure of the military panel to achieve its desired
\nobjective, another plot is now being hatched. The APC led Federal
\nGovernment has orchestrated a wave of arrest and intimidation of
\nmembers of the House of Assembly and cabinet members of the present
\nadministration in Ekiti State.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe intention is to cripple the voice of opposition, which Governor
\nAyodele Fayose has become and coerce the House of Assembly to impeach
\nthe governor in the manner of the 2006 scenario which the Supreme
\nCourt has declared illegal, null and void.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn furtherance to this devilish plot, armed men of the Department of
\nState Security invaded the House of Assembly on 4th March 2016 and
\n\u2018carted\u2019 away four honourable members. They have been rendered
\nincommunicado. They cannot be reached by their family members,
\ndoctors, lawyers and colleagues. As against the Constitution of
\nNigeria that forbids detention of anyone beyond 24 hours without court
\norder, no charge has been preferred against them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Federal High Court in Ado Ekiti, on Friday ordered the immediate
\nrelease of one of the lawmakers, Hon Afolabi Akanni, but up till now,
\nthe court order has not been obeyed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe international community is therefore being alerted of the
\nworrisome political situation in Ekiti State. We are calling on the
\ninternational community to prevail on the Federal Government to allow
\npeace to continue to reign in Ekiti by allowing our popularly elected
\nGovernor, Ayodele Fayose to fulfil his electioneering promises to the
\npeople.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Members of the Ekiti State House of Assembly have taken their protest over the armed men of the Department of State Services (DSS) Friday, March 4, 2016, invasion of the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":47554,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n