Headlines
How I Escaped Attacks in Ekiti — Fayose
A former Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayo Fayose, on Friday said he escaped attack by a whisker while leaving the House of Assembly in Ado Ekiti, the state capital.
Fayose, who appeared at the Assembly on Friday on the invitation of the legislative body, said, “It was on our way from the Assembly that some people trailed us in a Pick-up purposely to attack us. We managed to escape. In short, one of them nearly broke my head.”
The former governor, who said he came to honour the Assembly’s invitation because “a clear conscience fears no accusation”, said, “When I got to the Assembly, they said they were not ready and that they would inform me when they were ready. As a matter of fact, since they accused me of financial misappropriation, they were supposed to be ready.”
However, he went into a closed-door session with the Speaker, Funminiyi Afuye, and two other lawmakers.
The Assembly had summoned Fayose; a former Speaker of the Assembly, Kola Oluwawole; a former Chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, Mr Dapo Olagunju; a former Commissioner for Local Government Affairs, Mr Kola Kolade; and the 16 local government chairmen elected during Fayose’s tenure over allegations bordering on misappropriation of funds.
The former governor in a told journalists said, “I got this by noon yesterday (Thursday) and I called the Speaker to confirm whether it was true and he confirmed it. You know my style. When the EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission) wanted me, I told them ‘I’m here’.
“So, I have come to the House of Assembly to tell them I’m available for their questions. I drove down from Lagos to tell them that there was no hiding place for some of us, so, I am here and ready to give an account of my stewardship.”
Fayose, who denied he had been given a soft landing by the Federal Government in the EFCC’s case against him, said he would not compromise standards.
He said, “I will not follow the multitude to sin. I want to believe that selective justice will not help our country.
“I have condemned anyone who says that in Nigeria, when you come to the All Progressives Congress, then you become a saint. I am telling you, I will never become a member of the APC, I will never defect.
“If I wanted a soft landing against my party, against my candidate, that would have happened in the past, I stood my ground during the elections. So, that is impossible.”
Meanwhile, Afuye said that Fayose’s “ambush” to the House of Assembly complex was resisted because he came unannounced.
In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Tai Oguntayo, the Speaker said, “After the resolution of the Assembly at the plenary on Thursday inviting the former governor to appear before the House, he called the Speaker to confirm if the report was true.
“The Speaker confirmed to Mr Fayose that it was true and that was the end of the discussion.
“When Mr Fayose announced his readiness to the Speaker, he was told to go back and await the official invitation letter from the House of Assembly.
“The former governor was accorded his due respect on arrival at the House of Assembly, being a former first citizen of the state.”
The spokesperson for Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, Yinka Oyebode, did not answer his calls.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer for Ekiti State Command, Caleb Ikechukwu, said, “I have not been briefed about that.”
The Punch
The Presidency has dismissed claims that Vice President Kashim Shettima’s recent comments were directed at the political situation in Rivers State or President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s constitutional decisions on the matter.
In a statement on Friday by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications (Office of the Vice President), Stanley Nkwocha, the Presidency described the reports as a “gross misrepresentation.”
The statement clarified that Vice President Shettima’s remarks at the public presentation of a book by former Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), were misconstrued by some online platforms and individuals.
“These reports have distorted the Vice President’s comments in pursuit of a mischievous agenda,” it stated.
“They twisted his account of how the administration of former President Jonathan considered removing him as Borno Governor during the insurgency to falsely link it with current events in Rivers State.”
The Vice President, who spoke at the launch of OPL 245: The Inside Story of the $1.3 Billion Oil Block in Abuja on Thursday, was said to have referenced the past solely to commend Adoke’s professionalism while in office, and to reflect on Nigeria’s constitutional evolution regarding federal and state relations.
“For the avoidance of doubt, President Tinubu did not remove Governor Fubara from office. The constitutional measure implemented was a suspension, not an outright removal.
“This action was taken in response to the grave political crisis in Rivers State at the time, with the governor facing a looming impeachment and the State Assembly complex under demolition,” Nkwocha clarified.
The Presidency insisted that the action taken by President Tinubu in declaring a state of emergency and suspending the Governor was fully in line with Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which authorises such measures when there is a breakdown of public order requiring extraordinary intervention.
According to the statement, the President’s proclamation invoking Section 305(2) was subsequently ratified by an overwhelming bipartisan majority in the National Assembly, confirming the legitimacy and constitutional propriety of the decision.
“The action of President Tinubu in suspending Mr. Fubara and others from exercising the functions of office averted the governor’s outright removal. To conflate suspension with removal is misleading,” the statement further noted.
Nkwocha also stressed that Vice President Shettima’s comments were delivered extemporaneously and intended to underline the importance of public accountability and historical documentation.
He referenced the Vice President’s mention of past public servants, including Adoke and former Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, to illustrate principled leadership.
“His remarks were not in any way a criticism of President Tinubu’s actions, which the Vice President and the entire administration fully support and stand by without reservation,” the spokesman stated.
The Vice President, the statement added, remains in “loyal concert” with President Tinubu and is committed to implementing all constitutional measures necessary to safeguard democracy and uphold order across the country.
Concluding, the Presidency called on media organisations and political actors to desist from misrepresenting public remarks for sensational or partisan purposes.
“We urge media organisations and political actors to desist from the destructive practice of wrenching statements from context in order to fabricate nonexistent conflicts,” Nkwocha said.
Headlines
Akpabio Relieves Natasha of Committee Chairmanship Position, Appoints Akwa Ibom Senator As Replacement
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has replaced suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, as the Chairman, Senate Committee on Diaspora/Non-Governmental Organisations.
In her place, Akpabio named Senator Bassey Aniekun Etim (Akwa Ibom -East).
The Senate President, who made the announcement on the floor in Abuja on Thursday, did not give any reasons.
The committee position had remained vacant since March when the Senate suspended the Kogi-Central Senatorial District lawmaker for six months for flouting the Senate’s rule on the seating arrangement and seat allocation.
The suspended lawmaker, at a point, chaired the Senate Committee on Local Content before Akpabio reassigned her to the Committee on Diaspora/NGO, shortly before she ran into trouble with the Senate over her conduct on seat allocation.
The Supreme Court has affirmed the 2024 governorship election victory of Governor Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC), dismissing the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Asuerinme Ighodalo.
In a unanimous decision by a five-member panel led by Justice Mohammed Garba, the apex court ruled that the appeal lacked merit. It upheld the earlier judgments of the Court of Appeal and the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which had both declared Okpebholo the validly elected governor.
