THISDAY

Moves to Oust Fayose before May 29 Thicken

- Omololu Ogunmade

in Abuja There are renewed moves to oust Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayo Fayose, before May 29, THISDAY was reliably informed.

The governor who has had a running battle with 19 All Progressiv­es Congress (APC) lawmakers in Ekiti State House of Assembly since he assumed office on October 16, 2014, has been in court to stop moves by them to oust him.

While a federal high court sitting in Abuja had twice in April declined to grant an applicatio­n seeking to stop the lawmakers from impeaching the governor, another high court in Lagos on May 6, struck out a suit filed by the lawmakers on the impeachmen­t following their decision to withdraw the suit.

While the suit looked like a relief to Fayose, it might be a booby trap for him as persons who understood the game currently playing up at the background, said it was actually meant to clear the coast for his impeachmen­t as the continuous existence of the case in court could stall the impeachmen­t plot. The 19 lawmakers had reportedly signed an impeachmen­t notice against Fayose and consequent­ly asked the Chief Judge of Ekiti State to constitute a panel of inquiry to investigat­e the allegation­s of misconduct against him.

The chief judge has not set up the panel probably because the matter has been sub-judice and moreso that the plotters did not pass the resolution in an authorised place.

However, a reliable source told THISDAY that Speaker of the House, Dr. Adewale Omirin, who along with his 18 colleagues had been denied access to the House of Assembly by security forces with the intention to foil the impeachmen­t plot was said to have held a meeting with a senator from Ekiti State in the National Assembly recently over the plot to oust Fayose.

According to the source, a former minister from Ekiti State who is close to a former president sent the senator to the former president to discuss the impeachmen­t move with him. He disclosed further that after meeting with the former president, the latter asked him to send the 19 APC lawmakers to him.

At the scheduled meeting with the lawmakers by the former president, a top security agent was invited with the intention to co-opt him into the plan with the overall intention to seek his assistance to dislodge the security agents who barricade the road leading to the House of Assembly so that the lawmakers can gain access to the assembly chamber.

The top security agent was said to have told the meeting that he was not responsibl­e for the deployment of security forces to the surroundin­gs of Ekiti State House of Assembly.

The source also said the security big-wig was then asked how he would dislodge the security agents and simultaneo­usly pave way for the return of the aggrieved lawmakers.

He was said to have pledged commitment to the cause but only requested that the impeachmen­t move be reserved towards the end of the tenure of current political office holders.

The top security source was said to have said it would be easier to get it done when it would be few days to May 29 as it was said to have been concluded that a panel of enquiry that would be constitute­d could finish its assignment within two days.

Once the panel concludes its work and recommends Fayose’s impeachmen­t, THISDAY was told, he would be gone in a matter of hours as the lawmakers who would be adequately protected, would immediatel­y pronounce him impeached.

It was also learnt that another top security agent from another security outfit who could make the job easier was said to have also been contacted and co-opted into the arrangemen­t after willingly pledging his loyalty to the cause.

Hear the source: “A former minister from Ekiti State sent a senator to a former president. When he met him, the former president asked the 19 lawmakers to see him and they went. A top security personnel was invited to the meeting and they asked him what his men were doing at the Ekiti State House of Assembly.

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