Contrary to the expectations of political observers, the Ekiti State House of Assembly has remained calm 24 hours after the embattled 19 All Progressives Congress, APC, lawmakers resumed their legislative duties on Wednesday at the House of Assembly. The lawmakers, led by Adewale Omirin, the alleged impeached Speaker of the House, have been discharging their duties while the seven legislators led by Dele Olugbemi, acclaimed new Speaker and leader of the faction, are yet to resume.
Omirin, who led the APC legislators to the Assembly in a convoy of 14 vehicles at 11.30 am yesterday, told the magazine that their resumption was not connected to the declaration of Muhammadu Buhari as the president-elect by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, but was in accordance with the mandate given to them by the people. “We are ready to discharge our duties and the opposition group cannot stop us. I cannot be impeached by seven lawmakers because the constitution says only 18 lawmakers can perform such an exercise. I am still the Speaker of the House. Olugbemi is an impostor, the legitimate Speaker is back and nobody dares stand in the way,” Omirin said.
On November 17, 2014, seven Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, legislators elected Olugbemi as the Speaker of the House so that he could screen and ratify Governor Ayo Fayose’s three commissioners and local government caretaker committee members. They returned to the assembly complex on November 20 and purportedly impeached Omirin without the constitutionally required 18 lawmakers.
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