Fayose displays cheques to confirm payment of salaries, entitlements to APC lawmakers

Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State on Monday displayed copies of the Skye Bank cheques dated May 26, 2015 issued to the 19 All Progressives Congress lawmakers to corroborate his claim that the lawmakers had been paid their salaries and entitlements.
One of the cheques, which bore the name: Boluwade Kehinde, was received on behalf of the lawmaker and had a sum of N2,149, 052.37 on it.
The governor displayed the cheques while speaking with journalists at the Governor’s Lodge, Ado Ekiti in reaction to the tension created over the rumour of impeachment moves against him by the APC lawmakers.
The ousted speaker of the state House of Assembly, Dr. Adewale Omirin, had denied the claim that they had been paid their salaries.
Omirin alleged that their bank accounts were still being frozen as directed by the governor.
Fayose said it would be tantamount to illegality for Omirin to continue with any impeachment proceeding against him in view of the ruling delivered by Justice E. S. Chukwu of the Federal High Court, which ordered that status quo as at April 23 be maintained pending the determination of the motion on notice.
The Speaker, Hon. Dele Olugbemi, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, and six other lawmakers had in a suit number FHC/ABJ CS/361/2015 filed at the Federal High Court sought an interlocutory injunction among other reliefs restraining the APC lawmakers from commencing impeachment proceedings against Fayose.
Fayose said on Monday: “They have been dropping the name of President Muhammadu Buhari as giving them the backing to impeach me. How can an Assembly, whose tenure will wind up on Thursday, be planning this? I wonder why the issue of the past should be allowed to come to play now.
“As at the date the court gave the order, I mean April 23, Hon. Adewale Omirin was not the speaker. It will be wrong for the court order not to be respected. This is illegality and I want to raise this for the public to know.
“Omirin has gone to court to challenge his impeachment and later withdrew such, which means he accepted he had been impeached, and a cost of N100,000 was awarded against him.
“So, he is not the Speaker. I am calling on well-meaning Nigerians, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mohammed Mahmoud, and President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene in this matter.
“How can somebody be living in another state and planning to invade his own state? This is something else and I view this as a major crime anyone can commit against his people.”
On the payment of the salaries and other benefits to the lawmakers, Fayose said: “They came to collect the cheques in Ado Ekiti in company of the Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Toyin Ojo.
“The issue would have been discussed publicly during the peace parley, but they insisted that it should not be discussed openly because they didn’t want the leaders of their party to know.”
Fayose urged Ekiti State people to be prepared by keeping eyes on the lawmakers and prevent them from carrying out their alleged nefarious act.