APC Law Makers Say There Is No Going Back On Fayose's Impeachment

The 19 All Progressives Congress lawmakers in
Ekiti State House of Assembly have said there is
no going back on the impeachment plot against
Governor Ayodele Fayose.
The embattled Speaker, Dr. Adewale Omirin,
said the governor could not run away from the
process because the impeachment notice
served on Fayose was a constitutional matter
and contained serious issues of the law.
He said instead of staying in hiding to evade
justice, "it is better to live with the reality that
the rule of law has come to stay in the
country."
He said this while reacting to media reports
credited to the factional Speaker, Dele
Olugbemi, and the governor's media aide, Lere
Olayinka, dismissing the impeachment notice as
a joke.
Omirin in a statement by his Special Adviser on
Media, Wole Olujobi, said the move was to
rescue democracy from the grip of executive
lawlessness and impunity into which the state
had been driven by the governor.
He said, "It will soon dawn on Fayose and his
aides that the matter at hand goes beyond
exuberant media skirmishes that are being
deployed to rally support for the governor.
"Attention of the world has shifted to Ekiti State
following the leaked tape detailing electoral
fraud perpetrated to give Fayose victory. After
that, several issues in Ekiti State are being
questioned on the place of the constitution in
nurturing democracy in the country, and as
responsible citizens, we must act right to make
democracy work."
Omirin said all allegations raised in the
impeachment notice were constitutional
matters, to which the governor must be ready
to produce answers instead of "belligerent
attitude" in the media in addressing serious
issue of constitutional significance.
Advising the governor to respond to the
allegations against him, he said running away
from the Government House and using his
aides to cover his track would not help him in
defending his assault on the nation's
constitution and other infractions against the
constitution that were already established
against him in courts.
"It is good that his men are talking in the
media about the need to uphold the
constitution in this matter even though they
behave short of upholding the constitution in
their conduct.
"Even though the governor trampled on the
same constitution when he led thugs to attack
judges in court and tore court records in the
Chief Judge's office, our duty is to follow
constitutional path in this impeachment
process.
"These men that are flying the governor's
banner will soon see the law in action. This
impeachment process is real. We must rescue
Ekiti State from lawlessness and fraud. The
N1.3bn poultry project fraud case is still in
court. There are still cases of unresolved
murders.
"We have again seen the resumption of state-
sponsored terrorism with thugs attacking and
maiming Ekiti people after a break in 2006
when the governor was impeached for fraud
and attacks on opponents.
"We thought his impeachment trauma in 2006
would have taught him a lesson, but the
governor has proved that he cannot survive in a
society where the law works. We advise him to
come out of hiding and defend himself because
we are prepared to give him a fair hearing.
That is the reality he must face instead of
downplaying serious matter of constitutional
consequences," the Speaker added.
Commenting on the impeachment notice on
Sunday, Fayose in a statement by his Special
Assistant on Public Communications and New
Media, Lere Olayinka, described his
governorship as a mandate freely and
wholeheartedly given by Ekiti people.
"Ekiti people who are the owners of my
mandate will defend it against political
usurpers, whom they had rejected twice in the
last nine months," he said.
Source - Punch