No Let-up in Ekiti
By Anthony Akaeze
Monday, May 12, 2008
The political crisis in Ekiti State House of Assembly has continued unabated with the House still unable to sit
Ekiti State is increasingly becoming a hotbed of tension and crisis. Since April 7, Ado Ekiti, the state capital has made newspaper headlines for political unrest. On April 7, two rival political parties, the People's Democratic Party, PDP, and the Action Congress, AC, clashed in the state. Several persons were wounded.
But hardly had the tension caused by that incident died, than another crisis erupted on April 29. The crisis was caused by the manner the members of the State's Independent Electoral Commission, SEIC, were screened at the State House of Assembly.
A seven member SIEC team was allegedly screened by a seven member PDP lawmakers in the wee hours of that day. As a result, members of the AC, whose lawmakers did not participate in the exercise refused to accept the decision. They considered the action an illegality, and have protested against it. But the two groups have been pitched against each other and have disrupted legislative activities at the state's house of assembly.
The present crisis has its roots in the April 7 incident. On that day, Femi Bamisile, PDP member and speaker of the state house of assembly was accused of shooting two AC members. The two AC members were part of a group of people who were allegedly marching to the speaker's office at the State House of Assembly to register their disapproval of his decision to create an ad hoc committee for the screening of SIEC members. But before they could get there, they were accosted and two of them were allegedly shot by the speaker. Since then, the SIEC matter had turned controversial, as questions have been asked as to the propriety or otherwise of the speaker's decision to create an ad hoc committee to screen the SIEC members. The AC members were not comfortable with the idea to create an ad hoc committee because they believe that it was not in the interest of their party. They have also argued that the speaker had acted unconstitutionally by choosing to create an ad hoc committee when there is a statutory committee in the house to screen the SIEC members. It was the controversy generated by that action that led to the shooting of the two AC members, April 7.
Following that shooting incident and the controversy it generated, the speaker decided to suspend the inauguration of the ad hoc committee meant to screen the SIEC members. Some traditional rulers were said to have waded into the matter. The intervention of the traditional rulers led to the resolution of the two parties, PDP and AC, to agree to screen the SEIC members through the house committee.
Saliu Adeoti, an AC member and deputy speaker in the state house of assembly, told Newswatch that although the two parties had agreed to screen the SIEC members, there is still no definite arrangement to that effect yet. "After we met with the traditional rulers, they asked us to go about it constitutionally, that whatever we do should be in accordance with the rules and regulation of the House. Because of their intervention, the mace that had been in the custody of the police was later returned. Although we had agreed to heed the advice of the traditional rulers to conduct the screening, no permanent time had been fixed for it yet."
But Adeoti believes that the PDP has its agenda. "On that April 29, I and my colleague, Odebumi Gbenga, acting on a tip off, got to the House of Assembly at 6.20 a.m and met seven members of the PDP. As soon as they sighted us, they ran out of the chamber with the mace but the security people intervened and apprehended the clerk." Adeoti wondered why only seven PDP members, out of 26 lawmakers in the state, would chose to meet at such odd hour, if their intentions were in the interest of the state.
Bayo Idowu, the secretary of AC in the state, said the action of the PDP is evidence of the "desperation and frustration" on the part of the party. He could not understand why honourable members would choose to sit at "5.30 a.m to screen the SIEC members." According to him, the rules and business committee did not prepare the order paper for the sitting. "The rules and business committee had been dissolved by the speaker. None of the committees that were inaugurated in the House is currently in existence." He then asked: "Which committee prepared the order paper used by the seven legislators that screened the SIEC members? It must have been prepared in the governor's house."
But PDP thinks that the AC members are the ones fomenting trouble in the state. Bamisile, the speaker, said the AC members are merely "bad losers" who refused to come to terms with the fact that the PDP is the ruling party in the state. He denied that he convened a meeting of seven PDP members including himself on the day in question. "I came to the office around 8.45 a.m to see our AC brothers asking for the mace but I told them that I am not the custodian of the mace. They were asking for the clerk and before I knew it, they started rushing into my office trying to forcibly gain entry. They came to the Assembly complex and drove out innocent civil servants from their offices. The mace is not missing. I am not the custodian of the mace but I know it is not missing." He further accused the deputy speaker, Adeoti of making attempt at his life, saying he pulled a gun at him.
Femi Afolabi, the special assistant to the speaker on media matters, told Newswatch that the mace was neither missing nor in the custody of the speaker as alleged by the AC. "It's a lie. The mace is not in his custody. It's in the House of Assembly and in the custody of the Seageant-at-arms." He said that the AC was only trying to make an issue out of nothing. He further denied that AC members were not part of the lawmakers that purportedly screened the SIEC members that April 29, or that due process was not followed. "It's not true. Twelve members were present that day, including the deputy speaker and one Gbenga Odebumi. But they were not allowed to participate because they were not properly dressed."
The special assistant further said that prior to, and even on the day of the screening, a radio announcement was made in the state alerting members on the event. Afolabi said the whole crisis was being instigated by the AC leadership in the state who have an influence over their lawmakers in the house. "It was the AC party leaders that gave their lawmakers instruction to dissociate themselves from the screening. They are saying that the SIEC screening should wait until judgment has been delivered by the election tribunal in the state. But the PDP is saying why didn't they wait for the tribunal to conclude its assignment before they were inaugurated into the state house of assembly." He accused the AC lawmakers of questioning the motive of the PDP leadership only when issues do not involve their personal welfare. "The AC lawmakers each collected furniture allowance of four million Naira and constituency project grant of five million Naira as well as a Toyota Avensis and Honda Accord cars given to every lawmaker in the state. They did not reject these. But when it comes to issues that will move the state forward, they don't co-operate."
Adeoti dismissed as lies, claims by Bamisile, that he threatened to kill him. "If you know Bamisile, you will know that nothing he tells you should be believed. I did not at any time, point a gun at him or threaten to shoot him. You should find out his antecedent at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. It's unfortunate that somebody that calls himself the number three citizen in a state should be telling such lies. He also alleged that I assaulted his personal assistant, following which he was lying critically ill in the hospital. But the same PA came to the hall where we were having a meeting in the presence of traditional rulers in the state and everyone was shocked to see that the man was in sound health," he said.
For now, legislative activities at Ekiti State House of Assembly remains suspended. The speaker had announced the adjournment of legislative proceedings at the state house of assembly shortly after the controversy that trailed the SIEC screening. While the PDP considers the suspension appropriate, the AC does not. No one knows yet, when normalcy would return to the House.
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