Ekiti State Governor-Elect, Mr Ayodele Fayose, has said the call by the National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Lai Mohammed, that he should be arrested over the recent political developments in the state was baseless, spurious and originates from an ignorant mind.
Speaking in Ado-Ekiti on Saturday through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Idowu Adelusi, Fayose said Mohammed was fed with lies about the happenings in Ekiti State and that he has exposed himself by commenting in a manner only an ignorant fellow would do.
Adelusi noted that he was not surprised by Mohammed’s outburst because he, like other APC leaders, were sad as their efforts to launch a judicial coup failed woefully on Monday.
“We Yoruba people have a saying that ‘inu a bimo ku ki idun ( somebody who gave birth and lost the child would not be happy). Having snatched people’s mandate through the back door, not once but twice, to rule states where they did not win elections, the APC and its leaders thought that is the best way to secure electoral victory,” Adelusi noted.
“They did those things in the past through ‘Salamic’ judgments and were hoping for a repeat performance in Ekiti State after the people rejected them with His Excellency, Mr Ayo Fayose, trouncing their opponents 16 goals to zero. Their man could not even win his local government.
“Their evil plan to use compromised judicial officers last Monday to steal the people’s mandate was scuttled by the vigilant voters who freely gave their mandate to Fayose. Their game plan was to do another ‘Salamic’ abracadabra and get the inauguration of the governor-elect aborted. They were planning to get the Speaker of the House of Assembly inaugurated as acting governor. People from Gboyin Local Government, where Speaker Adewale Omirin hails from were already jubilating.
“God, in His mercies, exposed them and for Lai Mohammed to put the blame on Fayose smacks of ‘bad belle’ and malice.”
The CPS held that the two suits brought before an Ado-Ekiti High Court by a group, the E-11 were pre-election matters and that the issue of the jurisdiction of the court was being contested.
Adelusi advised Mohammed and the APC leaders to learn how to accept defeat, as in politics, one wins some and loses some.
He called on the people of the state to be vigilant, as enemies of their collective resolve were roaring about like a wounded lion.
APC had called for Fayose’s arrest in a statement issued in Lagos on Friday by its National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, saying since Fayose did not yet enjoy any immunity from arrest and prosecution, he should immediately be arrested.
Mohammed had said every time a judge was attacked anywhere in the world, the attackers have always gone to jail to serve as a deterrent to others who may want to take the laws into their hands.
He held that it was necessary to act fast to prevent anarchists and crude individuals from taking the laws into their hands and tampering with the administration of justice, because the attack on Justice John Adeyeye came a few days after pro-Fayose and pro-PDP thugs invaded a court room in the state.
The statement read in part: “Even though Mr. Fayose has not assumed office, he has succeeded in taking Ekiti State back to Egypt within a few months of his ‘election’. Not only are Judges being attacked, the kind of killings and chaos that characterised his first time in charge of the state have already started. He is struggling hard to ensure that Ekiti is no longer in the league of states where disputes are settled in courts, instead of on the streets, and judges preside in the administration of justice.”
Mohammed maintained that while Ekiti State Police Commissioner Taiwo Lakanu did well to restore order after the judge had been beaten up, the overall role of the police in the two attacks was shameful.
“According to published reports which have yet to be refuted, police personnel stood by while litigants, lawyers and other citizens were being mauled by rabid PDP thugs in the first attack, and again seemed powerless as Justice Adeyeye was being manhandled and his suit torn until the Police Commissioner arrived at the scene. If this is not an act of collusion, then it is a case of unacceptable gross incompetence for which those security agents must be brought to book,” Mohammed said.
“If the police are no longer willing and able to carry out their constitutional duties of protecting the lives and properties of the citizenry, then anarchy looms.”
He said Nigerians must be ready for a hellish time in the hands of the PDP from now on till next year’s general elections, considering that the party’s thugs are also alleged to have killed several people in Lagos recently after a PDP rally attended by President Jonathan.
“How can elections be free, fair and transparent in a lawless society? How can elections be credible when policemen are taking sides with the ruling party? How can elections be violence-free when candidates being put forward by the ruling party are ready to engage in jungle justice? We can only call on the international community to maintain a keen interest in events in Nigeria in the days and weeks ahead,” Mohammed said.
