Ado-Ekiti LG Boss May Be Suspended over Reception
From Dipo Okunmuyide in Ado-Ekiti
Chairman of Ado-Ekiti Local Government Area, Mr. Taye Fasubaa, who is currently facing trial before the Ekiti State House of Assembly and the disciplinary panel set up by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state may be suspended from office in line with the provision of local government administration law.
Going by the recent bill passed by the State House of Assembly which amended the local government administration of 1999, section 23 (1) of the law gives the state governor power to suspend from office for a period not exceeding three months any chairman or vice chairman for misconduct.
Mr. Fasubaa got himself into trouble last weekend over a reception organised for him by a group of Ekiti elites under the auspices of Ado-Ekiti Development Organisation (ADO) that is made up of critics of the administration of the state governor, Mr. Ayo Fayose.
At the reception held at Airport Hotel in Lagos on September 4, invited guests who were mostly members of the E-11, a group made up of Ekiti indigenes resident in Lagos and some members of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in Lagos State poured vituperations and series of abuses on Fayose, condemning him for alleged poor performances.
Those who spoke against Fayose at the reception include Senator Tokunbo Afikuyomi, representing Lagos State at the National Assembly; Barrister Femi Falana who contested the last governorship election with Governor Fayose under the National Conscience Party (NCP); Mr. Opeyemi Bamidele, a commissioner in Lagos State and indigene of Ekiti State who was performing the burial of his mother at Iyin-Ekiti when Governor Bola Tinubu and some former AD governors accused Fayose of putting them under house arrest.
Also at the forum is Mr. Babafemi Ojudu, the Managing Editor of the News Magazine and coordinator of E-11 group which has been very critical of Fayose's administration.
The chairman of PDP in Ekiti State, Mr. Ropo Adesanya who addressed a press conference on the issue said the reception which was organised to honour Fasubaa was not an ordinary social gathering but a meeting of anti government forces both within and outside Ekiti State.
"It was a political coup and a subversive meeting where some members of AD in Lagos State who had one score or the other to settle with Fayose colluded with some disgruntled Ekiti indigenes living in Lagos to malign the name of the governor and discredit the PDP-led government in the state," Adesanya said.
The chairman who addressed the press in company of members of the Central Working Committee (CWC) of the party said the PDP in the state after watching the video dips of the reception viewed the utterances of the speakers at the occasion as not only derogatory to the governor who is the symbol of authority in the state but an act of incitement against the legitimate government in the state.
He disclosed that the party has resolved to set up with immediate effect a 7-man disciplinary committee to trial Fasubaa who was elected as chairman under the platform of the PDP for anti-party activities, adding that the PDP in the state will contact its national leaders and show them video clips of the subversive meeting.
On the same day, Ekiti State House of Assembly which met under 'urgent matter of public importance' debated extensively the issue and summoned Fasubaa to appear before it on the following day to defend his roles in the matter.
The majority leader of the House, Honourable Babade Kayode who drew the attention of members to the Lagos reception said the forum was hijacked by some AD members in Lagos State and turned it to an avenue where missiles were hauled against the PDP-led government in Ekiti State.
He quoted Senator Afikuyomi to have said at the occasion "that Lagos State Government is in support of the moves by Fasubaa to confront Fayose for usurping his power as the chairman of Ado-Ekiti Local Government and illegal deductions of his allocation."
Honourable Kayode described the statement as an attempt by the AD to destabilise Ekiti State, adding that another statement credited to Femi Falana at the occasion was an incitement of the people against the government.
In his own reaction, Honourable Sule Longe representing Ekiti East Constituency II warned members of the AD in Lagos to desist from launching attacks against the PDP - government in Ekiti State, saying Ekiti was not an extension of Lagos State.
At the sitting of the House on Wednesday when Taye Fasubaa appeared to defend himself, the video clip of the Lagos reception where the integrity of Fayose was freely maligned was shown for about 22 minutes.
In the video, Fasubaa was shown to have kept mute while vituperations were being poured on Fayose, a development which a lot of people viewed as an act of disloyalty to the governor and the party.
A member of the party who was present at the House's sitting Mr. Opeyemi Aluko told THISDAY later that Mr. Fasubaa on whose behalf the reception was organised should have kicked against or corrected what he called disparaging statement about the governor and the state.
Though, Fasubaa in his defence before the House claimed that the video tape was doctored as the area where he spoke and enlogised the governor has been removed, majority of the lawmakers blamed him for not replying "fire-for-fire" the attack against the governor while judgement on the issue was differed for another sitting.
Meanwhile, local government chairmen in the state have dissociated themselves from the action of Fasubaa and condemned him for showing disrespect and act of disloyalty to the party and the governor of the state.
The chairman of Emure local government, Mr. Abel Akinwale who spoke on behalf of other 15 council chairmen who paid solidarity visit to Fayose on Thursday described Fasubaa as the only Judas among the 16 council chairmen who are disciples of Fayose.
He pointed out categorically that Fasubaa does not have the support of any of them and denied allegation of illegal deduction of allocation raised by the chairman of Ado Local Government against the governor.
He explained that the money being deducted from their allocation apart from the statutory deductions at the Joint Account Allocation Committee (JAAC) was based on an agreement reached between the 16 council chairmen and the state government to set apart certain amount of money for capital projects which will be rotated from one local government to another.
According to Akinwale, it was through the fund that the state government is now purchasing transformers to boost electricity supply in various party of the state and also carrying out rehabilitation of some claims in the state in conjunction with the Federal Government.
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