Security fears force Ekiti Assembly to adjourn till October

THE Ekiti State House of Assembly has condemned and rejected the result of the July 14th 2018 governorship election as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The Leader of Business in the Assembly, Mr Akinyele Olatunji, who spoke at the House plenary in Ado Ekiti on Tuesday, claimed that the process leading to the election and its final result was “improper” and “unfortunate.”

This is just as the house has adjourned sitting for about three months to resume on October 8th, 2018.

The leader of Business, Akinyele Olatunji, who moved the motion for the adjournment, said the long adjournment became “imperative due to the political harassment of members by security agents.”

The motion for the adjournment was unanimously approved by other members present at the plenary.

Akinyele condemned alleged harassment of the state governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose, PDP leaders across the state and members of the state assembly allegedly by security men.

The Chairman, House Committee on Information, Dr Samuel Omotoso, said the election of July 14, 2018, did not meet up with all democratic credentials.

He pointed out that the election was marred by outright brigandage, vote buying and falsification of results.

In his contribution, the Deputy Whip of the Assembly, Hon Ekundayo Akinleye, remarked that the outcome of the July 14th governorship election had shown that Nigerians should not expect a free and fair election in the 2019 general elections.

He pointed out that there were discrepancies in the final figures released by INEC.

The Speaker of the Assembly, Kola Oluwawole, in his reaction, described the election as “a show of shame with thugs and security men openly working for the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC).”

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Pastor Oluwawole claimed that “figures were brazenly doubled to favour the declared winner and expressed confidence that the stolen mandate would soon be retrieved.”

The members came up with an eight-point resolution by the House, which included their decision that “the election was heavily militarised with palpable fear on the faces of the electorate; that the security agencies compromised to the bidding of the APC; that the APC induced voters with money with the connivance of the security agencies.”

Other points on the resolution were “ballot snatching by APC thugs, while PDP supporters were molested and chased out of the polling booths and collation centre in open glare of security men.”

The lawmakers concluded that “the result of the governorship election stood rejected by the House,” and that the security agencies should vacate the entrance of the Government House where they alleged that they were currently laying siege.

The Assembly members called on the security agencies to leave Ekiti State to allow government business to thrive unhindered.