Ekiti Assembly Crisis: Oyebanji Explains Why He Didn’t Interfere

The Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, has come out to give reasons he didn’t interfere in the crisis rocking the State’s House of Assembly.

According to him, it wasn’t appropriate for him to interfere in matters of the House because he is a believer in the rule of law and separation of powers in the state.

Oyebanji submitted that he didn’t have any preferred candidate for any leadership position in the House because it was not an appropriate thing for him to do so.

Naija News reports that the governor in a statement issued on Tuesday by the state government said the new Speaker of the House, Olubunmi Adelugba, who replaced Gboyega Aribisogan was officially presented to him at his office by the chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, Paul Omotoso.

Recall that the former embattled Speaker of the Ekiti House, Aribisogan was impeached on Monday after six days in office on the allegation that he sabotaged the passage of the 2022 Supplementary Budget Bill.

Oyebanjo, however, commended the APC leadership for resolving what he described as a family disagreement among the state legislators, noting that the House demonstrated the confidence their constituents and the leadership of the party reposed in them.

The governor, who used the opportunity to appeal to the new Speaker for a speedy passage of the budget that was with the House, noted that he refused from day one to be drawn into the matter simply because he swore an oath to defend the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Naija News learnt that Oyebanji submitted that “My comment begins with an appreciation to the party leadership for resolving this family disagreement, it’s not a crisis; democracy comes with strains and stresses. There are contestations and disagreements but the beauty of democracy is that there are in-built mechanisms to resolve it.

“And that is what has played out. The APC is one. I’m a loyal member of this party; the APC gave me the platform to stand on, and without the APC, I will not be here today.

“I refused from day one to be drawn into it simply because I swore an oath to defend the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The constitution is clear of the powers and functions of all the arms of government. I am leading the executive arm of government, they don’t interfere in what I do and it will be wrong and a violation of the constitution for me to interfere in what is going on in the House of Assembly.

”What I have done as your governor is to ensure that I protect lives and property and that is within my power as the governor of this state. I have not interfered but I’m happy with the outcome. As progressives, we have a culture and the culture is respect for leadership.

“And madam Speaker, our budget is before the House of Assembly and we are working so hard to ensure that we deliver on our promises to Ekiti people but we cannot violate extant rules and regulations. I am appealing for a speedy passage of the budget.

”There are lots of things we ought to have brought before the honourable House but we are waiting for the passage of the budget.

“While congratulating the new Speaker, I will just plead with the party chair to bring in everybody and for the first time, I will have to quickly respond to all the insinuations on social media on what has happened in the House of Assembly. It’s a family affair and as a family, we would resolve it.”