Ekiti Assembly adjourns indefinitely

Dapo Falade with Agency Report - 07.05.2008

The Ekiti State House of Assembly has adjourned indefinitely to enable the members to amicably resolve their internal crisis. The Speaker, Mr Olufemi Bamisile, made this known on Tuesday in Ado-Ekiti in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

Bamisile had on Monday accused his deputy, Honourable Saliu Adeoti, of leading 12 Action Congress (AC) lawmakers in the Assembly to attack him.

He also accused them of vandalism while demanding for the House mace. The Speaker, who decried the alleged attack, said the date for the reconvening of the House would be communicated to members.

``The House has adjourned sine die, and we have agreed that members should go on recess, maybe for the next two months.

``The House will probably reconvene after the recess, and the date will be announced to members,” he added.

Bamisile urged aggrieved members to seek redress in court in the interest of peace, rather than taking the law into their hands. Meanwhile, the state government has described the invasion of the House of Assembly by AC lawmakers as part of the plots by the party to destabilise the state.

The controversies surrounding the constitution and swearing-in of the members of the SIEC was further compounded as the Progressive Peoples Party (PPA) has instituted a legal action in an Ado-Ekiti to declare the action of the state lawmakers unconstitutional and illegal.

Also, a former governor of the state, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, condemned the constitution of the SIEC by Governor Segun Oni, saying the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government was a sinking administration clutching to the last straw to survive.