The Ekiti State House of Assembly on Thursday reacted to a suit filed against it by the immediate past governor of the state, who is also the current Minister for Mines and Solid Minerals Development, Dr Kayode Fayemi, and reiterated the he remains a wanted person.

The House insisted that it had, in the last one year, summoned him according to the dictates of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) without success.

The House, in reaction to the suit filed by Fayemi, demanding for N500 million damages from the Assembly, through its chairman, Committee on Information, Youth and Sports Development, Dr Samuel Omotoso, said “the former governor’s antics are efforts in futility.”

Omotoso said “the attention of the Ekiti State House of Assembly has been drawn to some newspapers publications where the wanted Minister of Solid Minerals, John Kayode Fayemi, claimed that he had sued the House for N500 million for issuing a warrant of arrest against him, due to his failure to appear before the Assembly on three consecutive invitations spanning a year period.

“As a former governor and a serving minister, one would have expected him to be abreast of due process, especially as it relates to service of court processes which, is at the instance of the bailiffs.

“Rather than communicating with the Assembly through any court process (if any), or through the appropriate channels, Kayode Fayemi prefers the comical way of media blitz and sensationalism.”

The House noted further that its members’ resolution over the mismanagement of State Universal Education management Board (SUBEB) funds crisis was carried out according to all laid-down provisions of the 1999 Constitution.

“All lovers of democracy who believe in the rule of law know that in carrying out one of its oversight functions of accountability, the Ekiti State House of Assembly, as well as the National Assembly, have powers under the Constitution to invite anybody, anywhere in Nigeria to appear before it as long as he/she is relevant to the issues under purview.

“The same 1999 Constitution, while taking cognizance of some heady elements, also empowered the legislature, under section 129 (d) to issue warrant of arrest to force such lawbreakers to appear before it for questioning and clarifications.

“This is what the House of Assembly in Ekiti State has done in exercising its lawful powers under the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria over one of its subjects, herein Dr Kayode Fayemi,” Omotoso explained.

He said Fayemi breached the said constitution by failing to appear before the House, after it had summoned him three times in the last one year.

“It is public knowledge that Dr Kayode Fayemi was invited three times, spanning a whole year, to appear before the Ekiti State House of Assembly to answer some allegations of corruption levied against him by the executive arm of government.

“It’s also on record that all the three invitations were not honoured by him without any official explanation and, hence, the EKHA has no choice than to exercise its powers as conferred in Section 129 (d) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, by issuing a warrant of arrest,” he said, declaring g that thus, “the RHS has also directed the following to arrest Dr John Kayode Fayemi anywhere he is seen and bring him to the EKHA as allowed by Section 129 (e) of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria: 1. The Inspector General of Police (IGP); 2. The Commissioner of Police (CP), Ekiti State; 3. The Interpol; and any private citizen of Nigeria.

“The EKHA has also gone ahead to approach the court to issue an order of mandamus to compel the police, through the IGP, to forcefully bring the wanted man, Kayode Fayemi, to the floor of the EKHA.”

Omotoso concluded by saying that; “One would now understands the panic and desperation inherent in Dr Fayemi’s rushing to the media with a court process that’s has not been procedurally served on the EKHA, an action amounting to self glorification and blinking in the dark.

“The EKHA wishes to reiterate its commitment to orderliness and due process and no predictable media blitz or sensationalism will deter us from carrying out our lawful duties as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“All rapes on the economy of this state by previous administrations must be recovered to the last penny and running from pillar to post by Dr Fayemi is purely an exercise in futility.

“It’s so obvious that Dr Fayemi is taking lessons from his counterparts facing similar diatribes at the National Assembly by rushing to an imaginary court without the knowledge of the EKHA.

“The APC-led Federal Government surreptitiously undermines this democracy by giving subtle supports to its members who break and rubbish the Nigerian Constitution at will. Otherwise, in saner climes, someone like Dr Fayemi has lost all moral grounds to serve, after disobeying the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria upon which his job as a minister stands. This cannot continue.

“Dr John Kayode Fayemi is a wanted person by the EKHA and must be arrested immediately. This is the position of the law.”

•Text courtesy of Nigerian Tribune.

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