As the October 15 date for the swearing-in ceremony of the
Governor-elect of Ekiti State, Mr. Peter Ayodele Fayose draws near, unfolding
events in the state have indicated that an absurd drama that may take Ekiti
back to the dark days that preceded the military takeover of 1983 is already
setting out. Incidentally, one of the men at the centre of the drama is the
Governor-elect.
Though the June 21 governorship election has been won and
lost, The Anchor has gathered that efforts are on in some quarters to ensure
that Ayo Fayose is not sworn-in as the Governor of the Ekiti State.
Findings revealed that though the result of the polls showed
that Fayose still has multitudes of supporters, some of the many enemies he
made in his days as Governor are still bent on having their pounds of flesh.
The E-11, a socio-economic group of Ekiti professionals went
to court and challenged the eligibility of Fayose to contest the last
governorship election. Though the group claims to be apolitical, it encourages its members to participate in politics and its leader was once quoted as saying two members of E-11 have ruled Ekiti State. The E-11 case is presently in court and if decided in favour
of the group, Fayose might eventually go the way of Senator Andy Uba who became
the shortest serving Governor in the history of Nigeria. Uba was removed by the
court just 14 days after he was sworn in.
Interestingly, the eligibility of a candidate to stand for
election as Governor has been clearly spelt out in Section 182 of the
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which states that:
(1)
No person shall be qualified for election to the
office of Governor of a State if –
(a)
Subject to the provisions of section28 of this Constitution,
he has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of a country other than Nigeria or,
except in such cases as may be prescribed by the National Assembly, he has made
a declaration of allegiance to such other country; or
(b)
He has been elected to such office at any two
previous elections; or
(c)
Under the law in any part of Nigeria, he is
adjudged to be a lunatic or otherwise declared to be of unsound mind; or
(d)
He is under a sentence of death imposed by any
competent court of law or tribunal in Nigeria or a sentence of imprisonment for
any offence involving dishonesty or fraud (by whatever name called) or any
other offence imposed on him by such a court or tribunal; or
(e)
Within a period of less than ten years before
the date of election to the office of Governor of a State he has been convicted
and sentenced for an offence involving dishonesty or he has been found guilty
of the contravention of the Code of Conduct; or
(f)
He is an undischarged bankrupt, having been
adjudged or otherwise declared bankrupt under any law in force in Nigeria; or
(g)
Being a person employed in the public service of
the Federation or of any State, he has not resigned, withdrawn or retired from
the employment at least 30 days to the date of the election; or
(h)
He is a member of any secret society; or
(i)
He has been indicted for embezzlement or fraud
by a Judicial Commission of Inquiry or an Administrative Panel of Inquiry or a
Tribunal set up under the Tribunals of Inquiry Act, a Tribunals of Inquiry Law
or any other law by the Federal or State Government which indictment has been
accepted by the Federal or State Government; or
(j)
He has presented a forged certificate to the
Independent National Electoral Commission
Interestingly, Mr. Fayose did not present the HND
certificate that was challenged by his opponents years ago for this election;
rather, he simply filled his School Certificate in the INEC form. Where the
issue lies however is the circumstances that preceded his impeachment; the
investigation of the 7-member panel, their submission and the impeachment which
has not been voided by a court of law.
And from The Anchor’s investigation, Fayose’s troubles did
not start today.
He was accused of perpetrating so much violence in his
three-year reign as Governor. He got into needless fights and there was hardly
a class of people that did not find themselves at the receiving end of his
temper; monarchs, political associates, opponents and businessmen have one
thing or the other to say about the Governor. All the past Governors of Ekiti
State have had issues with him at one point or the other.
On the eve of a council election, Fayose’s predecessor,
Otunba Niyi Adebayo and his guests, including Senator Bola Tinubu were locked
indoors in Iyin Ekiti on the orders of Governor Fayose, based on the suspicion
that they might be planning the council election.
Hon Tope Ademiluyi who became Acting Governor after his exit
was one of the House of Assembly members who were seen as outcasts and had
their constituency project allocations delayed back then.
Engineer Segun Oni, the next Governor was one of those
harassed by mobile policemen who stormed the house of Chief Falegan where a
meeting was being held. Then, they were accused of plotting to unseat the
Governor. That apparently explains why Oni left the Peoples Democratic Party
after Fayose got the governorship ticket in 2014.
While in office, he was accused of having a killer squad,
which he was believed to have maintained even after leaving office.
His issues with judges too started long ago. The Anchor’s
findings have revealed that as far back as 2010, there was an attempt on the
life of Justice S. A Daramola (the present Chief Judge of Ekiti State) and it
was alleged that Fayose paid someone to terminate his life.
Mr. Ayo Fayose was
alleged to have paid a notorious armed robber and kidnapper, Patrick Owie the
sum of N500,000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira Only) to kill the judge for
refusing to strike out the murder charge against him (Fayose) pending before
the judge at the material time. The assassin who was to kill the judge while
returning to Ado Ekiti from a wedding at Awo Ekiti had a change of mind when he
realized that the judge had once struck out a charge against him.
Though Fayose has not been convicted by any court of law,
the courts of public opinion have not acquitted him of a number of atrocities
that were perpetrated during his time as Governor.
For instance, on December 16, 2003 a member of the Peoples
Democratic Party, Mr. Muyiwa Adeyanju and two students of the College of
Education, Ikere Ekiti were shot dead at Ikere Ekiti during a peaceful protest
against the Ayo Fayose administration.
It was the turn of Sikiru Babalola, a People’s Democratic
Party member fondly referred to as Omo
Iya Onisu on February 15, 2004. That Sunday morning, Babalola ran into a
church to escape his attackers. The members were however not able to offer much
help as the assailants disrupted the service and by the time they were done
with him, he was left for dead. He woke up about seven days later on a hospital
bed. His Isuzu Rodeo was damaged beyond repairs. All the petitions Babalola
sent to the police did not yield any results.
The May 28, 2004
murder of Mr. Tunde Omojola, a Holland-based Nigerian who came home on vacation
during a local government by-election in a ward at Ifaki, Ekiti is still
believed to have been carried out on the orders of the then Governor.
Omojola’s “offence”
was that he had the audacity to challenge the brazen rigging of the election.
On September 11, 2004, Taye Fasubaa, the Chairman of Ado Ekiti
Local Government was lucky to escape assassination in his house at Odo Ado. One
of the attackers was reportedly felled by a shot fired by one of his
companions. Incidentally, the only person the Chairman had disagreement with
before then was His Excellency, the Governor and it was over the diversion of
local government funds in Ekiti State by Governor Fayose.
Not long after the incident, both Fayose and Fasubaa were
summoned to the Presidential Villa, Abuja by President Olusegun Obasanjo where
they were “reconciled” in the presence of the then Inspector-General of Police,
Tafa Balogun, the Ewi of Ado Ekiti, Oba Adejugbe Aladesanmi III and Aare Afe
Babalola SAN.
One of the surprises of Fayose’s three-year rule was the
sudden turn of the relationship between him and his deputy, Surveyor Abiodun
Aluko. By September 2, 2005, the situation had degenerated such that Aluko sent
a petition to the Police authorities that his boss was after his life.
Captain Olubolade, a former Military Administrator of
Bayelsa State was the victim of an attack believed to have been politically
motivated in April, 2006. Olubolade who was eyeing the governorship seat then
was attacked by mobile policemen and thugs during a local government
by-election.
Even after identifying himself and showing his ID card,
Olubolade was ordered to lie down. “I was saying I was a former military
administrator and ex-naval officer, showing them my identity card. They just
seized the ID card and told me to comply by lying down. And the next thing was
they started kicking and manhandling me, forcing me to lie down and matchetted
me in the back”, Olubolade said.
On August 14, 2006, Dr. Ayo Daramola, a World Bank
Consultant, was brutally assassinated in his country home at Ijan Ekiti. The
deceased had indicated his wish to challenge Mr. Fayose at the PDP primary for
the 2007 governorship election. Of course all accusing fingers pointed in one
direction.
About 2 months after Daramola’s murder, the Governor was
impeached and for some time, Fayose was off the radar in Ekiti.
Soon after his return to Ekiti politics however, the political situation of the state changed. On January 3, 2009, Engr. Kehinde Fasuba was assassinated by a gang of assassins who were believed to have been hired by one Mr. “Abecity” based in Ibadan, Oyo State.
As of the time he was murdered, Mr. Fasuba was an aspirant
for the Ekiti Central Senatorial position. Fayose later contested for the same
position but lost. When the said Mr. “Abecity” was arrested by the police and
detained at Abuja it was Mr. Fayose who stood surety for him.
While looking at the current events in Ekiti, especially the indefinite closure of the courts, analysts have pointed out that the closure might eventually work in Fayose's favour as the courts would not be able to sit on any matter that could affect his swearing-in.
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