Ekiti Assembly holds plenary on highway

The lawmakers carried placards and marched through Okesa area of the Ekiti State capital, Ado-Ekiti.

• Condemns freezing of Fayose’s accounts

Twenty-six members of the Ekiti State House of Assembly On Wednesday temporarily relocated from their hallowed chamber to the street to hold a plenary in protest of alleged political victimisation of Governor Ayodele Fayose and their members by the Federal Government.

The lawmakers, who carried placards and marched through Okesa Area of the State capital, later sat under a canopy to hold a plenary where they condemned the freezing of Fayose’s account by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) and threat to arrest some of their members.

The drama halted commercial activities in Okesa area of Ado-Ekiti as one side of the road was closed for the protesting lawmakers who carried their travelling bags containing their personal effects in readiness for the arrest of the EFCC.

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The EFCC had on June 21, this year froze Fayose’s two account numbers 1003126654 and 9013074033 in Ado Ekiti Zenith Bank alleging that N1.2 billion of the $2.1 billion arms fund was traced to the accounts.

But a Federal High Court in Ado-Ekiti had on Tuesday summoned the anti-graft agency and Zenith Bank Plc to appear before it on Monday, July 4, this year to explain their action, or the court will order unfrozen of the accounts.

The lawmakers that alleged the All Progressive Congress (APC) led Federal Government and the EFCC of luring them to initiate impeachment process against the governor sounded a note of warning that “none of the 26 members of the Assembly is available to be bought for the dirty job.”

Some of the placards they carried read, “We are ready for arrest”, “Harassing Ekiti lawmakers/government won’t give you 2018,”No matter your media trial and blackmail, on Fayose we stand” and”Leave Fayose alone” among others to denounce the federal government’s alleged intimidation and harassment of Fayose.

Policemen in eleven Hilux pick-up vans provided security to the protesters.

Six of the vans were used to block one side of the Okesa highway forcing motorists coming from Fajuyi road to divert to the other side of the road.

The Speaker of the Assembly, Hon. Kola Oluwawole said the sit-out assignment was meant to pass a note of
warning to the APC-led federal government that they were solidly behind Fayose and that nobody can use them to impeach the governor.

He said: “No amount of intimidation, harassment, arrest will push us to do any dirty job. We have had enough of intimidation. They should leave Governor Fayose alone, he was duly elected by the people of Ekiti state.

“The frozen of his account without following due process is a high level of intimidation and we condemn it.”

The Deputy Speaker, Segun Adewumi, said: “If Fayose built house anywhere, it is not their business; they
should wait until he finishes his tenure.”

Adewumi alleged that security reports at their disposal indicated that ten of the lawmakers had been pencilled down by the federal government for arrest over trump up charges.”

The House Committee Chairman on Information, Hon. Gboyega Aribisogan, said some of the lawmakers had been receiving phone calls and text messages to create fears in them, saying that nobody could change their minds against their determination to stand by Fayose.

Hon Shina Animashaun advised the APC to wait till 2018 for another election to test their popularity saying “If Ekiti people rejected them in 2014, they should wait for another election, they cannot come to power through the back door, we shall resist them. What they did in 2006 cannot be repeated in 2016. We are now wiser.”

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