FG cannot cow us for passing anti-grazing law – Ekiti Assembly

The Ekiti State House of Assembly has described the call by the Presidency through the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan Ali, on states that have promulgated anti-grazing bill to repeal it so as to accommodate herdsmen as an attempt to cow state Assemblies.

Speaker of the House of Assembly, Kola Oluwawole, reacted to the position expressed by the minister, said Ekiti State House of Assembly would not allow such development to cow it into surrendering the safety of the people of the state.

Oluwawole, who spoke through his Special Assistant on media, Stephen Gbadamosi, on Thursday, said Ekiti State was not ready to go back on “our decision to ensure the safety of lives and property of our electorate.”

Oluwawole said the state’s House of Assembly had taken care of both indigenes and nonindigenes in the Law it passed for the benefit of all residents of the state, peace and tranquility.

“We can not be cowed from any quarters. As an institution established by law, we operate within the ambit of our mandates. How can anybody ask us to go back to Egypt?

“The anti-grazing law we made in the Ekiti State House of Assembly is holistic. We have taken into consideration the welfare of all electorate in the state, be it indigene or nonindigene. In Ekiti, cows will not struggle for space with humans. They must remain where they should.

“We appreciate the support of His Excellency, Dr Peter Ayodele Fayose, in the process of making that law. And we are not ready to compromise the peace that law has engendered here since it was passed. We know how many innocent citizens of Ekiti State we have lost to herdsmen menace. We won’t condone more.

“In any case, we came on oath to promise to protect them and their properties. We won’t renege on that promise,” he said.