Police Wades Into Ekiti Assembly Crisis

POLICEMEN MAINTAINING LAW & ORDER AROUND EKITI HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY COMPLEX
POLICEMEN AROUND THE PREMISES OF EKITI HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY

Hopes brightened on Tuesday of an amicable resolution of the crisis currently rocking the Ekiti State House of Assembly following the intervention of the state police command, which has commenced mediation process.

The crisis in the Assembly was triggered by a sitting reportedly convened by seven Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmakers, who also went ahead to impeach the authentic Speaker, Dr. Adewale Omirin and elected a member representing Ikole 2 Constituency, Dele Olugbemi, as their own speaker on November 20, 2014.

The seven PDP lawmakers had earlier screened and ratified the appointment of three commissioner nominees sent to them by Governor Ayo Fayose.

They also empowered the governor to constitute caretaker committees for the 16 local government councils and appointed 12 special advisers.

Meanwhile, the APC lawmakers held a separate plenary at a secret location on December 18 where they suspended the seven PDP lawmakers and reversed all the actions taken in their absence.

To forestall any breach of the peace, the state’s Commissioner of Police, Taiwo Lakanu, has initiated a process to bring the two warring factions together and restore tranquility to the beleaguered Assembly.

To this end, Mr. Omirin visited the state police command headquarters where he held a meeting with Lakanu and declared the readiness of the APC caucus to resume legislative duties at the Assembly complex, which has been taken over by regular and anti-riot policemen.

The speaker also gave a commitment that the 19 APC lawmakers would not foment trouble or make inflammatory statements.

In a brief chat with reporters shortly after he emerged from the police commissioner’s office in Ado-Ekiti, Omirin also dispelled rumour of an assassination attempt on him, which had earlier gone viral on social media.

He described the rumour as “baseless and unfounded”.