Ekiti assembly crisis: Ex-speaker accuses APC of imposition, vows to contest his removal

Olugboyega Aribisogan, the impeached speaker of the Ekiti house of assembly, says his removal was flawed.

He said the All Progressives Congress (APC) is trying to impose its will on the people by impeaching him.

Aribisogan was impeached six days into his speakership, while Olubunmi Adelugba, a former commissioner for labour, was elected as the new speaker.

Speaking on Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television programme, on Tuesday, Aribisogan said Kayode Fayemi, a former governor of the state, is trying to destabilise the house of assembly.

“My election was never manipulated, it was in the open and clear. I was duly elected. The party is only being economical with the truth. They had already wanted to impose their will on Ekiti people,” he said.

“They had already wanted to impose their will on Ekiti people. The southern part of the state has the deputy governor and the party chairman, and the central part of the state has the governor, a minister and an ambassador, the northern part has nothing.

“And these are issues we are trying to solve even before that time they invited us. And I have been consistently saying it, there must be equity. What happened on the day I was elected was to show the party that the majority of the members wished we had a balance in Ekiti state. We are all stakeholders.

“I stand to say he (Fayemi) is the one trying to destabilise the state house of assembly. I’m going to tell it to his face that what he is doing in Ekiti will not be acceptable to the people of Ekiti.

“Because he cannot put a governor and at the same time not allow the governor to work. We are all witnesses to how he has been manipulating the current governor and he has been sandwiching him not to allow him to speak.”

Hakeem Jamiu, the deputy speaker of the house, said the election that produced Aribisogan was manipulated and as a result, it is a sham.

“That election was a sham. We later discovered that the whole process was manipulated. And that was the reason for the crisis in the party because members started complaining,” he said.

“About 14 to 16 members started complaining that this is not the way they voted.

“We later discovered so many things because we set up an ad-hoc committee that later found out that process was comprised and that is the reason for his impeachment and suspension.”