Alleged impeachment plot: Ekiti Assembly expresses support for Fayose

THE 23 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members of Ekiti State House of Assembly have passed a vote of confidence on the state governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, and said they were not party to the alleged plot to impeach the governor.

There were fears of a plot to cause uproar in the Assembly when, on Wednesday night, it was alleged that armed policemen had laid siege on the Assembly premises.

The Speaker of the House, Kola Oluwawole, had alleged that the policemen were allegedly uninvited and that they were at the house to pave the way for the three All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers to reconvene the plenary, barely one week after the members had gone on recess.

Oluwawole, while speaking with newsmen on Friday, reiterated his allegation that the Assembly clerk’s signature was forged in a letter purportedly written to request for police cover at the House.

But the spokesman of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Dr Samuel Omotoso who spoke with newsmen on behalf of the 23 members at the Government House, said they came on a solidarity visit to Governor Fayose.

• FAAC shares N652.2 bn to FG, states, councils for July

He also expressed displeasure at the siege on the Assembly by the security agents, saying that the members are solidly behind the governor.

Omotoso said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmakers were fully in support of the move by the party to retrieve Olusola’s mandate which was allegedly stolen from him.

He said, “we are here on solidarity visit to the governor of Ekiti State, Dr Ayodele Fayose and to show our displeasure to the stealing of the mandate freely given to Professor kolapo Olusola. We also want to use this medium to register our displeasure to the illegality being perpetrated by security agencies threatening to make the state ungovernable.

“As you can see, we are 23 members and 21 are present here. Mrs Titi Owolabi is not here because she is bereaved, and one of us travels oversea.”

We are 26 members; three are on the other side. We are united and irrevocably committed to the cause of Fayose.

“We are solidly behind him and our party the PDP. We support the decision of the party to go to court to retrieve the stolen mandate and also to tell the whole world that if 23 members are on the same page, we want to see how they want to use three members to perpetrate illegality in the state.

“The tenure of this governor runs out on October 16 and by the grace of God, he will complete his tenure. We are elected members by our constituents and we will do all the needful to make sure that the interest of our people will be protected. We are very loyal to the cause of our governor. We are solidly behind him and he will triumph over all his enemies,” he said.