UPDATE - Ekiti election tribunal relocates over insecurity

- The Ekiti state governorship election petitions tribunal has announced its relocation to a yet to be disclosed venue after it formally opened its session amid threats of insecurity

- The chairman of the tribunal, Justice Suleiman Belgore, said the issue of insecurity was raised by some lawyers

- The lawyers claimed that they were nearly mobbed by those suspected to be party goons on their way to the venue of the tribunal, the state high court, Ado Ekiti The election petition tribunal sitting over the conduct of the July 14 governorship election in Ekiti state on Monday, September 17, relocated its sitting to an undisclosed location, citing insecurity around the venue of the tribunal, Ekiti state high court, Ado Ekiti.

It was learnt that some indications emerged that the sitting may be relocated to Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.

This Day reports that the chairman of the tribunal, Justice Suleiman Belgore, said the secretary of the tribunal would announce a new venue within 48 hours.

NAIJ.com gathered that Adebayo Adelodun, a counsel to the petitioner, earlier demanded the relocation of the sitting citing cases of insecurity and threat to lives by the crowd that besieged the court’s gate before the commencement of the sitting.

The demand was supported by the counsels to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Chief Charles Edosomwan, that of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Akin Olujimi, and the lawyer to the party’s candidate, Kayode Fayemi. The lawyers claimed that they were nearly mobbed by those suspected to be party goons on their way to the court, which they said constituted serious security threat to lives and the course of justice.

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EFCC Starts investigation of Fayose’s wife - Feyisetan Fayose

New reports confirm that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has begun the investigation of Feyisetan Fayose, wife of Ekiti governor Ayo Fayose and his top aides.

According to TheCable, Feyi is being investigated alongside others to include Lere Olayinka, spokesperson to the governor; Toyin Ojo, the state’s commissioner for finance; Oluyemisi Owolabi, the state’s accountant general and Kayode Ojo, the former commissioner for works in the state, who was sacked by Fayose in July 2017.

All those being investigated according to some sources are being investigated on allegations of money laundering and abuse of office.
Some of the letters seen by TheCable, dated July 20, 2018, and addressed to the managing director and the chief compliance officer of Access Bank Plc reveal that EFCC is also investigating the governor for abuse of office.

The EFCC listed four Access Bank accounts being run by “Ayodele Peter Fayose”, and about five accounts in the same bank, being run by “Feyisetan Helen O. Fayose”, believed to be the wife of the governor.
Sources also revealed that similar letters were also sent to other major banks in the country, where the governor and his loyalists run personal transactions.

Some of the letters referenced “CR:3000/EFCC/ABJ/EG-TA/VOL.57/254” and “CR:3000/EFCC/ABJ/EG-TA/VOL.57/258” requested that the banks’ compliance officers should report at the EFCC economic governance section on Tuesday, July 24, 2018 — 10 days after the just concluded Ekiti elections.

Insiders also revealed that the banks were asked to present the details of accounts of the governor and his loyalists, including their; statement of account, bank verification, and any other relevant information that may help the investigation.

Fayose is said to have many allegations to answer, including; money laundering, abuse of office, misuse of bailout funds, electoral fraud from the 2014 governorship election (EkitiGate), and the N1.3 billion poultry fraud.

NEWS: SPEAKER - Why we shut down Ekiti Assembly indefinitely

The Ekiti State House of Assembly has been shut indefinitely over alleged invasion by strange policemen.

The Speaker , Kola Oluwawole , announced this at a press conference in Ado Ekiti on Thursday .
He said the shutting down of the Assembly became necessary because two units of heavily armed riot -policemen stormed the premises on Wednesday without an official request.
When our correspondent visited the Assembly on Thursday, there was no policeman in sight .

Oluwawole , who addressed journalists in company with 17 other lawmakers, said members of the All Progressives Congress in the Assembly were the brains behind the alleged strange Police deployment.
He said the Police were acting on a letter forged by the three APC members using the name of the Clerk, Mr . Tola Esan , and addressed to the Commissioner of Police , Mr . Bello Ahmed, calling for deployment .
He said the letter and the request were “unwarranted. ”
Recently , three PDP House members had defected to the APC.

They are Gboyega Aribisogan , Sunday Akinniyi and Ebenezer Alagbada , who left the PDP after a disagreement with Governor Ayodele Fayose.
Oluwawole said the Assembly would remain shut until security of lives of lawmakers and staff of the hallowed chamber could be guaranteed.
The Speaker said the Assembly had petitioned the CP to raise allegation of forgery against Aribisogan, Akinniyi and Alagbada .

He recalled that the Clerk had, on July 25 , written a similar letter dissociating himself from the letter purportedly written by him requesting Police cover at the Assembly .
He urged the Police authority to conduct unfettered investigations into the issue and bring the culprits to justice .
The Speaker said, “This is strange in democracy, for lawmakers to wake up and see unauthorised Police deployment in the legislative arm of government.

“On Wednesday at about 9 pm, Police authority deployed two detachments of heavily armed policemen to the premises of the Assembly . This came to us as a shock because we are in a recess and such action was unwarranted.
“Before now , we had it on good authority that Police were planning to provide cover for the three defecting lawmakers to perpetrate violence in the Assembly and cause confusion and also to endanger the lives of our staff.

“As we speak, the lives of our people are no longer safe , because the Police and APC thugs have laid siege to Ekiti Assembly and under this circumstance , our staff are no longer safe and we declare indefinite closure of the Assembly pending the time security can be guaranteed.
“We have not recovered from the harassment and abduction of our members by Police during the July 14 election . But let me say expressly that such strange police deployment was unsolicited, unwarranted and ultra vires ,” he said.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Mr . Caleb Ikechukwu, could not be reached , as his phone was switched off.

FAYEMI to fayose,I will probe your administration

Ekiti State Governor - elect , Dr . Kayode Fayemi, on Thursday said he would probe what transpired in the last four years in the state under the outgoing governor, Ayodele Fayose.

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He said it was in the interest of good governance for him to investigate how much accrued to the state and why salaries were not paid.

Fayemi said this in an interview with State House correspondents shortly after he met President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja .

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The former Minister of Mines and Steel Development seized the opportunity of the meeting to present his certificate of return issued by the Independent National Electoral Commission to the President. Although he said he would look into the state ’s books , Fayemi said it was not all about probing Fayose or his deputy.
He said the idea was to ensure that mistakes of the past were not repeated.

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He said, “l think we need to remove this election from personalities. This was an election that we fought on issues and it will be irresponsible on my part to come here and say that we will not examine what transpired in the last four years in the manner of government.

“What was received in Ekiti State and the expenditures in that period , why were we not able to pay salaries in the state? These issues should be examined in the interest of good governance .

“It is not about probing Fayose, probing Eleka etc . It is about not repeating the mistakes of the past and giving our people good government. So , we will also involve in looking at what transpired in the last four years . ”

Ekiti Election - PDP South-West blames police as result was rejects

The Peoples Democratic Party in the South West has rejected the outcome of the result of the governorship election held in Ekiti State on Saturday , saying the election was highly characterised with various electoral practices .

The party also blamed the Nigeria Police Force for allegedly allowing the malpractices to take place at some polling centres, giving opportunity to the members of the All Progressives Congress to be sharing money to buy votes .

The National Vice Chairman of the PDP , Dr. Eddy Olafeso , who was speaking with journalists in Akure , the Ondo State capital on Sunday, alleged that the APC spent N 18 billion on the election, declaring that the winner of the election, Dr . Kayode Fayemi deserved no congratulation message from the PDP .
He said , ” We have witnessed what happened in Ekiti State , despite our crying and screaming to the Nigerian people that the APC government was coming to Ekiti to destroy and disrupt democracy , to rig elections and to muscle us out and they eventually scientifically carried out what we have been warning the Nigerian people about.
”

What transpired in Ekiti is not democracy but a complete rape of democracy and the will of the people . It is rather unfortunate we witnessed this despite the fact that APC bequeathed to this nation .
” This is a prelude to what we should be expecting in 2019 , we have been rigged out, we have been muscled out with the connivance of the police force in particular. The police gave coverage for the open corruption that APC stalwarts got involved in Ekiti State .
“ They chased all our agents away and put on their neck PDP agents tags and signed across all documents for them but one day truth will come out .

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We rejected in totality the outcome of Ekiti election.
” This is the limit of corruption and we warned before the election that the Abacha loot that is being taken and distributed without any appropriation is going to find its way to Ekiti . It was like a trading place and they turned our democracy upside down .

” This is rather unfortunate and they are going to severely pay for it because this history will not go unchecked and we are going to do everything possible to ensure that we cleanse the whole country as soon as we come into power in 2019 ″
While commending the state governor, Mr. Ayo Fayose and the members of the PDP in Ekiti State , the National Vice Chairman, said the party would examine the outcome of the election and would take necessary action as soon as possible

UPDATE - Ekiti election, political robbery – Rivers State Government, Nyesom Wike

THE Rivers State Governor , Chief Nyesom Wike , has described what transpired during the Ekiti governorship election as the worst political robbery in the nation’ s democratic history.

Wike said the APC Federal Government would not be able to replicate the “ Ekiti political robbery ” in Rivers State because people of the state were fully prepared.
He spoke on Sunday at the Anglican Cathedral Church of Saint Paul , Port Harcourt , during the thanksgiving service to mark the end of Third Year Anniversary Celebration of his administration .
“ Don ’t be worried about what happened in Ekiti State . We are prepared. It will not happen here in Rivers State . I have never experienced that kind of robbery in politics.

“ I told my colleagues, do not give them any chance . Most of them in APC are happy that they will repeat the same thing in Rivers State , we are waiting ; come and repeat . Let your spirit not be down , work hard and victory will be ours, ” he added .
Speaking on the thanksgiving , Wike said that the state government had come before God to appreciate him for a hitch - free programme, which spread across two months

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He said that the third year anniversary of his administration offered Rivers people the opportunity to witness the superlative performance over the period under the review .
“ We made sure that people , who have eyes, see what we have done for the state. Except those who are blind , for which there is nothing we can do about it .
“ We will continue to do the best for the people of Rivers State . The people deserve the best. This one year we will not stop doing projects, irrespective of the elections ” .