Fayose’s Impeachment: Court Invites APC Lawmakers to Show Cause

Gov petitions IG over killing Calm returns to Ado-Ekiti

The impeachment threat hanging over Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State and his deputy Kolapo Olusola, was kept at bay yesterday, as a Federal High Court in Abuja asked the lawmakers of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to come and show cause why an interim injunction seeking to stop his removal should not be granted.

Ruling on the application, Justice Ahmed Mohammed ordered the defendants in the suit, including the APC factional Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Adewale Omirin, and the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Ayodeji Daramola, to appear in court on April 16.

The court ordered the defendants to appear in court to show cause why the order of interim injunction being sought by the plaintiffs halting the impeachment proceedings should not be granted.

However, the court only granted prayers contained in the ex parte application relating to service of the court processes on the defendants.

Apart from Omirin and Justice Daramola, other defendants in the suit are the Inspector General of Police (IG), Mr. Suleiman Abba, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The plaintiffs in the suit are the Speaker of the House of Assembly (described as being occupied by the Peoples Democratic Party factional Speaker, Olugbemi Joseph Dele); Ekiti State House of Assembly; Fayose and Olusola.

Counsel to the plaintiffs, Mr. Ahmed Raji (SAN), had sought the interim injunctions halting the impeachment move through an ex parte application dated and filed on April 7, 2015.

Raji had urged the court to grant the interim injunction setting aside the impeachment notice already served on the governor and the deputy and also restraining the defendants from taking any further steps in the impeachment move.

The lawyer argued that the act by Omirin to issue an impeachment notice and serve same on the governor and the deputy governor as Speaker of the House of Assembly amounted to impersonating the incumbent Speaker.

The plaintiffs had urged the court to grant the prayers and make the interim injunctions to subsist pending the determination of their motion on notice for interlocutory injunctions seeking the same set of prayers.

Raji urged the court to grant the prayers "in the interest of justice, public order, peace and safety of the people of the state".

But the judge in his ruling rather than granting the interim injunctions ordered the parties to appear in court to convince the court why the plaintiffs’ prayers for an interim injunction should not be granted.

Justice Mohammed ruled: "The order is hereby made directing the 1st to 4th defendants (Omirin, IGP, INEC and Ekiti CJ), to appear before this court on April 16, 2015 and show cause why the interim order sought by the plaintiffs via an ex parte motion dated April 7, 2015 should not be made by this court."

But the court granted other prayers contained in the ex parte motion relating to service of the court processes, including the main suit on the defendants.

The court granted leave to serve Omirin and Justice Daramola, who reside in Ekiti State, outside jurisdiction.

It also ordered that Omirin and the Ekiti State Chief Judge be served through advertisement in a national newspaper.

It also made a separate order that the Chief Judge be served with the processes of court through the Office of the Chief Registrar of the Ekiti State High Court.

In their main suit, FHC/ABJ/ CS/302/2015, the plaintiffs are seeking nine prayers among which is "an order setting aside the purported notice of impeachment and all steps taken by the 1st defendant (Omirin) with other errant members of the 2nd plaintiff (Ekiti State House of Assembly) in relation to the purported issuance and service of the said notice of impeachment for the purpose of commencing and concluding the impeachment proceedings against Peter Ayodele Fayose and Dr. Olusola Kolapo, except and until there is absolute compliance with provisions of section 36(1) and section 188(1), (2), (3) and (4) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended)."

Other prayers being sought by the plaintiffs include, "An order prohibiting the 1st defendant (Omirin) and other errant members of the 2nd plaintiff (Ekiti State House of Assembly) from further taking any step, or engaging in unlawful activities relating to the impeachment of Peter Ayodele Fayose and Dr. Olusola Kolapo, except and until there is absolute compliance with provisions of section 36(1) and section 188(1), (2), (3) and (4) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

"An order prohibiting the Chief Judge of Ekiti State from taking any step or action in relation to the request of the 1st defendant (Omirin) for the purpose of appointing a panel of seven persons to investigate purported allegations of gross misconduct against Peter Ayodele Fayose and Dr. Olusola Kolapo, except and until there is absolute compliance with provisions of section 36(1) and section 188(1), (2), (3) and (4) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended)."

Justice Mohammed yesterday ordered that hearing notices be served on all the defendants and adjourned the matter till April 16.

Meanwhile, Fayose Modupe Olaya, has petitioned Abba over the gruesome murder of Olaya during a protest against the plot to remove the governor from office by 19 All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers in the House of Assembly.

Olaya was killed on Tuesday when policemen escorting the lawmakers from Osun State ran into the barricade mounted at Ita Ure in Efon Local Government by those protesting against the attempt to remove the governor from office.

However, the leader of the anti-Fayose lawmakers and the embattled Speaker of the Assembly, Hon Adewale Omirin, has since refuted the allegation, saying his security escort never fired any shot against the protesters, but only returned when soldiers prevented them from entering the state.

In the petition dated April 8, 2015, Fayose said the APC lawmakers were escorted by five fully armed riot policemen, whom he later discovered to have been brought from MOPOL 20 in Lagos State.

The petition was entitled, “Murder of Mr. Modupe Temitope Olaya, Call For Investigation and Prosecution of Culprits”, and was personally signed by the governor.

Fayose gave the names of the policemen who escorted the APC lawmakers to include: Sgt Oyelakin Zacchaeus ( F/No 386073), Cpl Adewuya Clement (F/No 396903), Cpl James Ogunji (F/No 386976), Cpl Ebute Michael (F/No 343469), and Cpl. Ibrahim Zock (F/No 235510).

“As I write, the entire Efon-Alaaye community is tense, with people expecting justice to prevail on the gruesome murder of Modupe Olaya.

“It is on this note, and most importantly, the need to restore the confidence of the people in the police that I implore that you use your good offices to order a thorough investigation into the murder.

“It is also important that the involvement of the above listed mobile policemen is ascertained as they were not from Ekiti State and were not deployed to escort the lawmakers to the State by the Ekiti State Police Command,” Fayose concluded.

In the same vein, the mother of the 32-year-old Olaya, Mrs Apeke Olaya, has called on Fayose to ensure justice is done in the death of his son, urging him to ensure that the mastermind of his son’s death is made to face justice.

Omirin, on the other hand, has accused Fayose of instigating the deceased’s family to implicate one of the APC lawmakers as being responsible for the death of their son.

Omirin said: “Fayose has invited to the Government House the mother and other family members of the Efon casualty felled by alleged soldiers' bullets yesterday to implicate the member of the House of Assembly representing Efon-Alaaye, Hon Ogundele.”

In a statement in Ado Ekiti yesterday, Omirin said: “In a carefully choreographed drama, Fayose called the woman to Government House apparently to help in deceiving Nigerians.

“We have confirmed that Fayose gave the woman huge sums of money and asked her to start crying, rolling on the floor with persistent mentioning of Honourable Ogundele as the one who shot the boy.

“The woman was crying and rolling on the floor when journalists were herded to the scene.

“In reality, the deceased, Modupe Olaya, was actually killed by security agents while thugs armed with guns and other dangerous weapons massed up at the Ita Ure security check-point violently protesting to block the route through which the 19 APC lawmakers were coming to Ado-Ekiti.”

However, normalcy has returned to Ado Ekiti metropolis and other major towns, following the violent protest that was staged by members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against the attempt to remove Fayose from office.

When journalists visited the assembly, it was still under lock and key, while an armoured personnel carrier was conspicuously parked in front of the complex and security men were on guard to forestall the incursion of any group into the premises.

Reacting to the developments in the state, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has described the attempt by the 19 APC lawmakers to remove Fayose from office as not only wicked, but self-serving.

The students’ body advised the embattled Speaker, Omirin, and other anti-Fayose lawmakers to wait for the outcome of the suit they instituted against the removal of its factional speaker from office and stop heating up the polity unnecessarily.