The member representing Ekiti North Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Olubunmi Adetunmbi, has justified the continued absence of the 19 All Progressives Congress lawmakers of the Ekiti State House of Assembly from the state.
Adetunmbi, in a statement in Abuja on Thursday, asked the affected lawmakers not to heed the call by Governor Ayodele Fayose for them to return from their self-imposed exile, saying the governor’s assurances that he would provide adequate security for them is deceptive.
He said, “The ‘ousted’ speaker of the Assembly has said that all the other exiled lawmakers would not return to the state until their safety is guaranteed by the governor of the state. His official lodge and the homes of many of them had reportedly been besieged by hooded security agents.
“Though the governor on his part has urged them to come back assuring them of their safety, his body language and bravado does not align with this assurance, therefore one can understand the insistence of the APC 19 to stay away until the court intervenes.
“The 19 lawmakers have taken the right step of defending the Constitution by seeking judicial redress as well as writing the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice and the Minister of Finance on the illegality in the screening and confirmation of the governor’s nominees for Commissioners for Justice and Finance respectively”.
The senator explained that “the entire world is watching closely to see if evil will be allowed to overcome good in the state”.
He appealed to all well-meaning Nigerians to rise against the “tide of impunity” in the state, which, according to him, was sliding “back to the darks days of violence”.
Adetumbi also called on “everyone, including Ekiti in the Diaspora, political class, professionals, chief security officers, the media, clergy and all citizens to speak out as one to condemn the raging siege of impunity and executive lawlessness” in the state.
According to the senator, there is no better and “appropriate time for all these critical stakeholders to unite in halting this gradual descent into anarchy and the desire of a few undemocratic elements to haul the state over an evil precipice”.
While appealing that Ekiti does not deserve to go down this path of infamy, Adetumbi alleged that an atmosphere of impunity and gross disregard for provisions of the constitution holds sway in the state now.
The senator, who pointed out that the constitution provided for independence of different arms of government, expressed sadness that the state executive had been “allowed to wreak havoc” on other arms of government.
He said, “First, it was the Judiciary that was assaulted; now, it is the turn of the state’s legislature to experience unwarranted attacks. When both are finally cowed, it may be the turn of the people of the state to feel the wrath of executive rascality!
“The signs are bad for democracy in Ekiti and indeed Nigeria”, he added.
