Confusion as Ekiti Assembly elects another Speaker within six days

• 17 members suspend ex-Speaker, others indefinitely
• Aribisogan alleges plot to assassinate him
• Accuses ex-gov of masterminding impeachment
• Fayemi denies involvement in crisis

The crisis rocking the Ekiti State House of Assembly, yesterday, took a new twist as the Speaker of the House, Gboyega Aribisogan, was impeached and suspended indefinitely, allegedly by 17 lawmakers barely after six days in office.

The lawmakers, however, elected Olubunmi Adelugba as the new Speaker.

The alleged offences of Aribisogan and the six other suspended lawmakers included causing disaffection, tension and apprehension among Assembly members whose votes were not allowed to count at the November 15 election of new Speaker to replace the late former Speaker, Funminiyi Afuye.

According to the anti-Aribisogan lawmakers, a committee also found them guilty of compromising the security of the House of Assembly members, thereby putting the lives of innocent staff members in danger by importing hoodlums armed with dangerous weapons into the gallery and chambers of the complex.

The former Speaker and his six colleagues were also declared complicit by the committee for their alleged roles on desecrating the premises and the hallowed chambers by bringing people suspected to be juju men for ritual purposes.

Adelugba, after adjourning plenary, led her colleagues to the state secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to officially informed party leaders of the change of leadership in the Assembly.

Adelugba appreciated the party for not allowing its name to be dragged in the mud despite the tension elicited by power-tussle in the lawmaking chambers.

She said what transpired at the Assembly was the indefinite suspension of Aribisogan and six other lawmakers for allegedly sabotaging the passage of the revised 2022 supplementary budget presented by the Executive.

The lawmaker disclosed that all the standing committees of the House had been dismantled, while a new Leader of Government Business, Mr. Bode Oyekola, was elected to pilot the affairs of the House.

MEANWHILE, Aribisogan has raised the alarm over alleged moves by unknown persons to assassinate him.

He accused the immediate past governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, of masterminding the plot to impeach him.

Aribisogan, who described the plot as an assault on democracy, urged the authorities to wade into the crisis in Ekiti State.

HOWEVER, while the APC State Chairman, Paul Omotoso, denied the accusation that former Governor Kayode Fayemi allegedly arm-twisted the lawmakers and imposed Adelugba, a statement signed by Ahmad Sajoh of Fayemi Media Office said that the former governor had nothing to do with the removal of the former Speaker, saying that it was the internal arrangement of the Assembly.