POLITICS: Kayode Fayemi, APC hire 35 lawyers for defence

The Governor - elect of Ekiti State , Dr . Kayode Fayemi, on Wednesday filed his defence to the petition by the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party and outgoing Deputy Governor of Ekiti State , Prof. Kolapo Olusola.

The defence team , comprised of 35 lawyers, would be led by eight Senior Advocates of Nigeria .
The SANs are Prince Lateef Fagbemi, Chief Akin Olujimi, Jelili Owonikoko, John Baiyeshea , Segun Ajibola , Mr Hakeem AfoIabi , Mr . Yomi Aliyu and Dr . Kayode Olatoke.
In the 2 ,558 - page defence with over 3 ,000 documents as exhibits , Fayemi averred that he won the gubernatorial election of July 14 , 2018 and urged the tribunal to dismiss Olusola’s petition for lacking in merit .

The team of lawyers armed with 3 ,500 exhibits and 1 , 009 witnesses were led to the tribunal by three Senior Advocates of Nigeria :
Addressing the press after filing the petition, Olatoke who spoke on behalf of his colleagues , said Olusola’s petition was a waste of time as it lacked substance and was sure that the case would be dismissed by the tribunal .
He explained further that Fayemi won fair and square in 12 out of the 16 local government areas of the state, while Olusola won in four .
Olatoke dismissed Olusola ’s claim of over voting in some polling units as frivolous and baseless .

He said Eleka ’ s first ground in his petition was based on Fayose’s phantom indictment , which had been nullified and set aside by a competent court.
“The second ground of Eleka ’s (Olusola) petition is alleged over voting, which is another false claim. In any case , the petition in itself is self- defeating.
“ The third ground is on deliberate voiding of votes as alleged by Eleka but in actual fact, majority of the voided ballots were votes meant for Fayemi, while the fourth ground is on vote- buying which is baseless as it was, Eleka ’s sponsor, Fayose that was guilty of this .

“Fayemi won convincingly based on his popularity ,” Olatoke said.
No date has been fixed for hearing.

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 . ”

College of education workers declare to support Fayemi Kayode

Workers at College of Education , Ikere- Ekiti have pledged support for the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate , Dr. Kayode Fayemi, ahead of the July 14 election.

They lamented that they were owed seven months salaries by the Governor Ayodele Fayose- led administration.
They also complained that the institution had not received grants for capital projects for over three years of Fayose’ s regime .
The college staff spoke when their union leaders met with Fayemi and presented a list of demands to him on Friday .

Those at the meeting were College of Education Academic Staff Union , Non - Academic Staff Union and Senior Staff of College of Education .

They praised Fayemi for giving them good welfare during his first term by increasing their salaries twice, repealing the law that abrogated the college and payment of 22 months arrears of N 900 m owed by the previous administration .
The staff also demanded the elevation of the college to a university status because of the dwindling number of students seeking admission .
COEASU Branch Chairman, Dayo Olokesusi , advised Fayemi to make immediate payment of seven months outstanding salary arrears a priority, saying the last salary collected was for that of November 2017 .

He said, “ The last salary we received was that of November 2017 . We embarked on several strikes, no result.
“We attend to students in hunger when somebody says continuity of hunger and lack . That is why we are pleading that it should be one of the first priority.

“We have made up our minds to work for you , to collaborate with you because of the way the state is being run. We are going to give you maximum support . ”
Responding , Fayemi promised to work out a moratorium of six months to offset all salary arrears owed workers and that he would increase the subvention if elected .
Fayemi denied a rumour that he was on a vengeance mission to the government house .

Fayemi said, “Revenge for what ? How many people did I sack when I was governor ? The people spreading this rumour are doing worse than sacking workers .
“I recruited more teachers and workers , I did not only pay salaries regularly but I also increased salaries of civil servants , teachers and local government workers three times and increased college salary twice.
“I am in politics to better the lives of people , I am not in politics to punish people . We are educated , we should not dignify such rumours .

“During my government, Ekiti had 98 per cent enrolment figure of school children but today , Ekiti has the lowest enrolment in the Southwest .
“Pupils are not able to pay the tax imposed on them by the current government, kindergarten and nursery pupils dropping out of school.

“It is the pain I see in the eyes of our people anytime I drive around that motivated me to seek this office again. The current government has caused more pain for our people . ”

Via PUNCH