Ekiti Assembly Speakership Tussle: Aribisogan Says He Is Still The Speaker 

By Toba Emmanuel

Honourable Gboyega Aribisogan from the Ikole Constituency 1 of Ekiti State has maintained that he still remains as the Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly despite the impeachment said to have been carried out against him on Monday by those he labelled as disgruntled members of the State Assembly. 

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The embattled Speaker made his position known in the late hours of Monday night through a press release he personally signed as the Rt. Honourable Speaker for the Ekiti State House of Assembly and sent to media houses. 

According to the two pages press release, titled: “Re: Purported Impeachment Of The Speaker Of The Ekiti State House Of Assembly And Suspension Of Seven Honourable Members” and signed by Rt. Honourable Gboyega Aribisogan as the Speaker, stated that, “the Principal Officers of the Ekiti State House of Assembly led by Rt. Hon. Olugboyega Aribisogan, condemned in strongest terms the illegal invasion of the House of Assembly Chambers by Seven disgruntled members at the unparliamentary hour of 6:00am on the 21st day of November, 2022”.

Continuing, the statement read further, that, “Ekiti people are aware that the House of Assembly had adjourned it’s sitting sine die after the election of Rt. Hon. Aribisogan as Speaker on 15th of November, 2022. He also added, that, the people of Ekiti State are also aware that a detachment of armed policemen took over the premises of the Assembly Complex since the early hours of Wednesday, 16th November, 2022; thereby preventing the legislature from undertaking it’s constitutionally prescribed duties”. 

Aribisogan further explained that, in the early morning of Monday, 21st day of November, 2022; seven disgruntled members of the House were shepherded into the Assembly Chamber by the policemen for a session that can only be described as an unlawful gathering and definitely not a plenary sitting because, the gathering was not convened in accordance with Order V, Rule 18 (1) of the House Rules”.

He went further to declare, that, “in view of the fact that the presence of the members in the Chamber was in contradiction of the House Rules, the purported impeachment of Mr. Speaker and suspension of seven members is illegal, ultra vires, null and void and of no effect”. 

He however told the public to see the actions of the seven disgruntled members of the State Assembly as one that cannot be legally sustainable and would definitely be quashed by a court of competent jurisdiction.

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He used the opportunity to call on the people of Ekiti State and the general public to note, “that Order II, Rule 9 of the Ekiti State House of Assembly rules clearly prescribed that, before the Speaker can be removed from office, he must be served with a formal notice of allegations and given a period of 72 hours to respond”. 

He noted that, “the rules further stated,  that such response will be reviewed by an Adhoc Committee set up by the House for that purpose before a vote on impeachment of the Speaker can be taken on the floor of the House”.

Honourable Aribisogan therefore urged the members of the public to know, that the unlawful assembly of the seven disgruntled members of the State Assembly held on Monday was an illegality committed without any respect or adherence to the rules and orders of the House regarding the impeachment of the Speaker. 

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He also revealed that, the seven disgruntled members of the Ekiti State House of Assembly present during the unlawful assembly did not meet the statutory number of seventeen which the House Rules states can impeach a Speaker. 

He challenged the disgruntled members of the Ekiti State House of Assembly to provide the video evidence of their sham proceedings to support their argument that the numbers of those who participated in the House proceedings met the requirements and composition of seventeen members. 

In his own conclusion, Honourable Aribisogan called on the government and people of Ekiti State and all the constituted authorities in the State to note that himself, Rt. Hon. Olugboyega Aribisogan remains the Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly. 

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Aribisogan also advised the people of the State to be watchful and remain calm in the face of the gross subversion of the democratic principles which took place in the Ekiti State House of Assembly.

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