Connect with us

Headline

Aftermath of Alleged Police Invasion: Ekiti House of Assembly Shut Down Indefinitely

Published

on

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 9pm, 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.

The Punch

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Headline

Breaking: Wike Plans to Attend Thursday’s PDP NEC Meeting

Published

on

By

By Eric Elezuo

The immediate past Governor of Rivers State, and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, may have concluded plans to attend the much advertised National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), billed to hold on Thursday, in Abuja.

Impeccable source, who is in the know, told The Boss that the minister, whose membership of the PDP is yet to be revoked even as he frolicks with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and serving in the President Bola Tinubu government as a minister.

The Source told The Boss that Wike’s impending presence at the NECeeting on Thursday is not unconnected with plans, already hatched with some governors, to weaken the opposition PDP.

“Yes, we have on good authority that FCT minister, Wike is planning to attend the NEC meeting tomorrow all in a bid to weaken the fabrics of the PDP, and pave the way for the continuation of the Tinubu administration come 2027, and by extension, relapse Nigeria to a full blown one party state.

“From every indication, Wike and his co-travellers, are bent on unleashing the same crisis ravaging the third force, Labour Party, and Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso’s Nigerian National People’s Party (NNPP) on the PDP for the APC to remain the only political party in the country, and ensure that Tinubu has no challenger, come 2027,” the Source said.

It would be recalled that Wike has boasted over and again that there’s no opposition against Tinubu’s re-emergence in 2027, and that they have made sure of that. He has been compensated with the Ministerial job after he withdrew support for his party, and supported the APC and Tinubu to emerge as national government.

The Source further revealed that in the attempt to actualize the intended one party  state, a lot of funding is ongoing to ensure that concerned stakeholders are ‘settled’ handsomely.

Wike, prior, during and after the 2023 general elections, has been floating in between the two major political parties; the APC and the PDP. While he claim to still be a member of the PDP, he is functioning as a minister in an APC government, mocking the inability of his party to discipline him.

Political stakeholders have concluded that the outcome of Thursday’s PDP NEC meeting will determine the path Nigeria’s political trajectory will take, and that it may portend the end of multi-party system and political democracy if Wike succeeds in his plan.

Continue Reading

Headline

Bribery, Corruption: APC Suspends National Chairman, Ganduje

Published

on

By

The All Progressives Congress ward in Ganduje, Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area, has suspended the party’s National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje.

The party ward legal adviser, Halliru Gwanzo, announced the suspension while addressing newsmen in Kano State on Monday.

Gwanzo cited allegations of bribery against Ganduje levelled by the Kano State Government as the reason for the suspension.

“We decided to suspend Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje from the party due to the seriousness of the allegations against him,” Gwanzo said.

Meanwhile, efforts to contact the Chief Press Secretary to the APC National Chairman, Mr Edwin Olufo, failed as his mobile phone was unreachable.

Continue Reading

Headline

Akpabio Commits to Collaboration with Tinubu, Governor Umo Eno

Published

on

By

The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has stated his commitment to working closely with Nigeria’s President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and Governor Umo Eno to ensure the delivery of democratic benefits to the people of Akwa Ibom State.

Akpabio stated this in his country home, Ukana, Essien Udim Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom, while briefing his constituents on the journey so far as their representative in the red chamber.

He assured the people of Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District of his commitment to their welfare in appreciation of their total support for him, President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in last year’s election.

The Highpoint of the constituency briefing was the distribution of over 10,000 bags of rice and other essentials for his constituents from the wards, to the local governments.

A statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Jackson Udom, quoted Akpabio as saying, “I am here once again, to thank you for standing by me, our President and the party, before, during and even after last year’s elections. I have come to say thank you and also bring Renewed Hope to you all.

“As the President is doing his own, the Senate President is also doing his bit and being complemented by the state governor, Akwa Ibom would be the better for it. We have finished elections and politics, we are now into governance. The governor of the state must touch you, because he is the governor of all the people in the state irrespective of political affiliation.

” As I am touching you now from the political angle, I will also touch the state without any political party affiliation. Most of the projects we are putting in place would be used by people resident in the state. Relax, things are getting better.”

The former Governor of the state, assured his constituents that his current position as the Senate President would be used for the development of the state in collaboration with the President and the Akwa Ibom State Governor.

Hear him: This Senate President is not the one that would be fighting the state government. I will collaborate with , I will collaborate with , to make the state better for us all. We cannot be out of government for a long time. You have to go to a government that carries you along”

Akpabio promised to work for his constituents and Nigeria with all his strength, noting that, “as the President of the Senate, I am for the Southern region and the entire country. I may not come here regularly to tell you what I have been doing for you, but you will be feeling the impact on way or the other. Our unemployed youths would be gainfully employed. I will construct a mini stadium in all the local governments in the district, for our youths to develop their sporting potentials. ”

Continue Reading

Trending