Afe Babalola, Olanipekun, Five Other SANs Fault Removal of Ekiti Speaker
- Leading lawyers of Ekiti state have described as unacceptable the impeachment of the speaker of the state House of Assembly, Gboyega Aribisogan
- The elder statesman expressed regret over the violations of the principle of fair hearing in the entire process by the political gladiators in the All Progressives Congress
- The signatories to the statement are Afe Babalola, Wole Olanipekun, Dele Adesina, Olu Daramola, Femi Falana, Dayo Akinlaja, and Gboyega Oyewole
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In what can be described as an old statement, seven legal luminaries have faulted the removal of Gboyega Aribisogan as the speaker of Ekiti State House of Assembly.
The legal luminaries who are leading lawyers of Ekiti state origin, in a joint statement on Wednesday, November 23, insisted that Aribisogan was unlawfully removed, adding that the “democratic rascality” must stop at the Assembly, The Cable reports.
Source: UGC
Tribune Newspaper reports that the statement was signed by Aare Afe Babalola, Chief Wole Olanipekun, and five other SANs – Dele Adesina, Olu Daramola, Femi Falana, Dayo Akinlaja, and Gboyega Oyewole.
The statement read in part.
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"By way of a somewhat pedantic proem, it is common knowledge that the erstwhile Speaker of the State House of Assembly, the Rt. Hon. Funminiyi Afuye, transited to eternity on the 19th day of October, 2022.
"As a sequel to that unfortunate development, a new Speaker for the State legislature had to be elected. The election to produce a new speaker, incontrovertibly, took place on Tuesday, the 15th day of November, 2002.
"As widely reported in the media, two members of the House contested for the Speakership and at the end of the election, one of the duo, Hon. Gboyega Aribisogan, was declared the winner of the election, having polled 15 votes as against the 10 votes garnered by the other contestant, Hon. Olubunmi Adelugba. The winner of that electoral contest, Hon. Gboyega Aribisogan was promptly and duly sworn in as the new Speaker by the Clerk of the State House of Assembly.
"Thereafter, it was brought to the notice of the general public that a new Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly had emerged.
"In a strange twist to the tale, however, news filtered out in the morning of the very next day, 16th November, 2022, that the Ekiti State House of Assembly Complex had been sealed off by the Police. By the evening of that day, the new Speaker, Gboyega Aribisogan was heard on Channels Television saying that he was not privy to the decision to seal off the Complex by the Police and that when he reached out to the Commissioner of Police, Ekiti State Command, he was informed that the step was taken to avert an intended attack by hoodlums on the State House of Assembly. According to the Speaker, the Police Commissioner had assured him that the situation would be speedily brought under control and normalcy would be restored to enable the House resume its constitutional and legislative functions."
Ekiti Speakership Tussle: Tension looms as Speaker accuses Ex-Governor Fayemi of plot to remove him
Kayode Fayemi, the former governor of Ekiti state, has been accused of a plot to remove the newly elected speaker of the state assembly, Gboyega Aribisogan.
The speaker alleged that the ex-governor is working with members of the state house of assembly to sack him.
Aribisogan's allegation came after the assembly complex was sealed off by security operatives over suspicion that some hoodlums would unleash mayhem on the facility following his emergence as speaker.
Tension in southwest as hoodlums attempt to burn down major state assembly, police step in
The Ekiti state police command on Friday, November 18, halted an attempt by some thugs to burn down the state assembly complex.
According to The Nation, it was learnt that the attempted attack took place around 4 am when the assailants were reported to have jumped the fence and made efforts to bring down the complex.
There has been a crisis in the Ekiti state house of assembly since the emergence of the minority leader, Gboyega Aribisogan, as the speaker of the house, to replace Funmilayo Afuye, who died last month on October 19.
Source: Legit.ng
