The allegations of blackmail by the Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Dr. Adewale Omirin, has been described as a deliberate attempt by the Ekiti State lawmakers to play politics with the life of the people.
A statement by the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Ekiti State Chapter, Chief Idowu Faleye, said Omirin was being economical with the truth in his assertions in the dailies that the governor of the state, Ayo Fayose, was blackmailing him on the refusal of the House to clear the commissioner nominees and lists of the caretaker committee for the local governments in the state.
Faleye explained that members of the House have no reason not to clear the nominees in the first instance because it was the House that demanded for the names and credentials of the nominees, which were submitted promptly.
Faleye said it was then a big surprise for the speaker to say that the nominees have not brought their credentials when in actual fact the receipt of the documents were certified before the plenary on Tuesday.
Chief Faleye stressed that the House made a u-turn after receiving a contrary order from their masters, hence the issue was hurriedly removed from the agenda of the House for the day.
Faleye said: “I want to say categorically that the House called for the credentials of the nominees who are members of our party and the three of them submitted while the speaker invited for screening on Monday before realising that the parliamentary caucus meeting of the House would be meeting on the day; he then shifted the meeting till Tuesday, it was along the line that the order to stop the whole process crept in base on the opinion of the leaders of the opposition All Progressive Congress.”
The chairman, who described the statement credited to Omirin as a wild unimaginable allegation to cover-up a grand plan by the APC members of the Assembly to play politics of retrogression with the well-being of Ekiti State, noted that if they have not demanded for bribe or even been paid to truncate progress in Ekiti State, how could their refusal to do the needful be justified or explained.
He said: “I can only deduce only one thing from this situation that the lawmakers are acting on a negative directives and influence of those who don’t want Ekiti to move forward knowing fully well that the governor could only function well with commissioners and local government apparatus.”
Faleye stated that the former Governor of the state, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, who was a product of the APC, came to the seat of government at a time the PDP in charge of the House as Speaker and the party was in the majority.
He said despite this, the House did not delay the passage of the lists of the commissioners and special advisers then for the love of the state rather than pursuing parochial interest.
The chairman equally stated that the APC legislators that are playing unnecessary politics with this now were known to be passing three to eight bills within a day during Fayemi’s era.
He reminded the lawmakers that drawing back the government as they are doing now also amounts to drawing back the wheels of progress of the state, which he said would only put their name in the black book of every Ekiti State son and daughter.