The Speaker of Ekiti State House of Assembly, Dr. Adewale Omirin, has appealed to the members of the All Progressives Congress and Ekiti State people in general to accept the judgment of the Supreme Court on the Ekiti State governorship election appeal petition filed by the party.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday confirmed Ayo Fayose as the validly elected governor of Ekiti State.
In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Wole Olujobi, Omirin said the Supreme Court as the last authority on the matter had spoken and urged the people to respect the verdict.
Noting that the judges are after all human beings who might have erred in the consideration of the petition, he said opportunities still existed that issues of similar nature might arise again in the future to right the wrongs that might have been noticed in the judgment.
He said: “This is an opportunity for Nigerians to ask questions whether it is morally right for a thieving governor to be impeached this month and next month he is recontesting the same position he lost over breach of public trust and alleged stealing.
“It is shocking that the judges could not take into account details of alleged fraud over which Fayose was indicted, particularly as the EFCC is in court trying the governor over the offence for which Fayose was indicted.
“For ordinary Nigerians, it was believed that the judgment would consider the particulars of the governor’s alleged fraudulent acts as established by the EFCC that necessitated the setting up of the panel which the Supreme Court is now saying was faulty.
“Isolating or discontenancing this important element of the case to now dwell on the legality of the panel to dismiss the entire case is nothing but a call to criminals to steal their society blind and in the process of establishing a reprimand against them, fault is now established against the probing authority in order to legalise the crime and wish the criminals good luck by allowing them to get away to enjoy their loots.”
Omirin regretted the psychological trauma the judgment might have caused close observers of Fayose’s politics of violence and impunity, noting that the judgment would now encourage the governor to increase the tempo of his intemperate conduct that led him to invade the court with thugs that beat up a judge and tear court records in the Chief Judge’s office.
He urged Ekiti State people and Nigerians in general to respect the judgment, saying hope still existed for the judiciary to right what might appear wrong in the judgment.