OMIRIN CAN RESUME AS MEMBER NOT SPEAKER...Adelusi.. The Chief Press Secretary to the Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Idowu Adelusi, tells FEMI MAKINDE in this interview that Governor Ayodele Fayose has no hand in the crisis rocking the state House of Assembly The Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Dr. Adewale Omirin, accused Governor Ayo Fayose of being behind his travail and removal as Speaker. What’s reaction to this? The allegation is far from the truth. What happened on Thursday was purely an internal affair of the lawmakers. There is separation of power; the executive does not interfere with the judiciary and the legislature. If the House of Assembly decided to change its leaders, then Dr. Omirin should not blame His Excellency (Fayose) for his woes. The lawmakers felt that the Omirin-led leadership is drawing the House of Assembly and the people of the state backward. The lawmakers removed Omirin and his deputy and elected new leaders for the House. He should not blame the governor for his removal because the governor is not scheming to become the Speaker. He was elected overwhelmingly by the people of the state on June 21 and he is working to transform the state. Is it constitutional for seven lawmakers to remove the Speaker in a 26-member Assembly? Omirin was removed by 10 lawmakers who sat in the House of Assembly; they were not seven as they are saying. Although the Peoples Democratic Party has seven members in the House, there are three All Progressives Congress lawmakers who are hobnobbing with the PDP. They were together with the PDP lawmakers on Monday and they elected a pro tem speaker. They went further on Thursday and elected a new Speaker. Omirin is still thinking that those three APC lawmakers are with him but he does not understand politics very well. In politics, you can only see my face, you cannot know what is in my mind. Journalists in Ekiti State saw that 10 lawmakers sat and removed the former Speaker. Nine members definitely form the quorum to sit and carry out the business of the House. Ten of them (lawmakers) sat on Thursday and they carried out the business of the House — removing the Speaker and his deputy. Did this not violate the provision of the constitution which stipulates two-thirds as the number required to remove the speaker? They did not violate any section of the constitution or the standing rule of the House. The standing rule states that nine of them form the quorum and that they can sit to carry out the business of the House. Omirin has challenged the governor to name the three APC lawmakers who were said to have collaborated with the PDP lawmakers. The APC leaders are comedians. Why are they asking the governor to name the lawmakers who sat and elected a new speaker? They should direct their questions to the clerk of the House and not the governor. Can anyone ask the clerk who the aides of the governor are or names of the cabinet members who attended an executive meeting? Who does the governor recognise as the Speaker? The governor recognises Dele Olugbemi as the authentic Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly. The law recognises him also. Omirin is a former Speaker and he remains so because he was duly removed by the lawmakers and not by the governor. The new Speaker has been given all the paraphernalia of office. He has been given security details. The governor has also ordered the former Speaker to return all government property in his possession. Omirin has vowed to challenge his removal in court… He is free to go to court. He was removed and if he feels aggrieved, he should go to court because the court is always there for everybody. We are not bothered. His plan is a welcome development. He has been removed. He cannot interpret the law. Let the court decide if he is still the Speaker but he is not the one to interpret the law. He has said he will dare the governor and resume as the Speaker. What do you say to this? Omirin is free to return to the House of Assembly as a member and not the Speaker. There is a new Speaker who is recognised in the face of the law. Omirin has been removed and he and his colleagues who are at large should return to the House to continue as lawmakers. He was elected as a member of the House by the people of his constituency and nobody is disputing that. He was not elected to the House from his constituency as the Speaker. The lawmakers who elected him have elected a new Speaker and he should respect that or go to court. Omirin accused the governor of invading the House with the policemen and thugs. How true is this? This is a lie. I am not surprised because that is the trademark of the APC. The Police probably got information that some APC sponsored hoodlums were planning to burn down the House of Assembly on Monday and they moved in there. But on Thursday, there was no heavy presence of security operatives. Let me add that the Omirin-led APC lawmakers in the Assembly were hell-bent on frustrating the Ayo Fayose-led administration. They have received a brief from their leaders in Lagos and Abuja to frustrate any bill sent to the House by the governor. The people of the state have seen this and they trooped out on Thursday morning protesting and demanding for a change in the leadership of the House. They know that any attempt to frustrate the governor will also affect the development of the state, so the lawmakers acted right and removed Omirin.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Nov 2014 08:23:17 +0000
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