Court reinstates six pro-Fayose lawmakers after tenure

Ekiti State High Court sitting in Ado-Ekiti has reinstated six lawmakers suspended in 2018 by the Fifth House of Assembly of the state and also ordered payment of their salaries and emoluments.

The suspended lawmakers include Tunji Akinyele (Oye II), Ekundayo Akinleye (Ijero), Olusanya Aladeyelu (Irepodun- Ifelodun II), Olawale Onigiobi (Ekiti South West I), Ayodele Fajemilehin (Gbonyin) and Dr. Samuel Omotoso (Oye I).

Justice Abiodun Adewodun, in his judgment at the weekend, described the decision of the state Assembly to suspend and also stop the salaries and emoluments of the lawmakers as egregious, indecorous, unbecoming and clearly out of order.

The court declared that the Assembly erred in law when a factional meeting of October 11, 2018, suspended some members and described it as anomalous, defective, unseemly, out of place, wicked and outright abuse of power.

It also declared the purported impeachment of the Speaker, Kolawole Oluwawole and the Deputy, Mr. Adesina Animasaun, as void, baseless and a nullity, thereby declaring the purported speakership of Adeniran Ebenezer Alagbada (Ise) and his team of principal officers as unknown to law and therefore non-existent in the history of Ekiti State.

However, counsel to the six lawmakers, Obafemi Adewale, said that the judgment was not only about Ekiti State House of Assembly but the 36 State Houses of Assembly, saying: “The judgment is for the House of Assembly as an institution abiding by its own rule. That is the principle that is also applicable to all the legislature in Nigeria. “We started with 12 of them but some of them crawled back to go and beg but they can now see the virtue of having confidence in the law.”

Also, Dr. Samuel Omotoso said it was victory for the rule of law.

Meanwhile, efforts made to get the reaction of one of the principal officers whose offices were declared a nullity, Mr. Gboyega Aribisogan, proved abortive as calls put across to him were not picked at the time of filing the report.