Members of the House have removed Gboyega Aribisogan as Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly.
On Monday, Olubunmi Adelugba was chosen to replace Aribisogan as Speaker.
The Speaker was impeached by 17 of the 25 members, who then chose a new speaker.
Earlier, the Assembly Complex was sealed off because members were involved in a dispute over the late Speaker Funminiyi Afuye.
On October 19, Afuye, age 66, passed away at the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital after experiencing cardiac arrest.
The parliament staged an election a month after his passing, and Aribisogan, a two-term politician who represents the Ikole 1 Constituency in the Assembly, won.
Former Governor Kayode Fayemi was charged with encouraging some MPs to remove Aribisogan from office.
Speaking on the Channels TV program “Sunday Politics,” the embattled speaker claimed that the former Governor opposed his election because he was seen as a traitor.
He asserted that some Fayemi-supporting MPs had prepared a strategy to remove him from office on Monday (today) during plenary.
The former Head of Government business, who won the speakership with 15 votes over his competitor Bunmi Adelugba, claimed that since his election, there has been a plot to depose him and install Adelugba.
Aribisogan, in his TV interview on Sunday, said, “When Fayemi called us to his residence and said he wanted us to support Hon Adelugba, I stood up to say that could not be done by fiat or by imposition; that we had leaders that we had to consult and that we would get back to them. Ordinarily, we should be looking at the constitution and the standing order of the House.”
He said he still tried to reach Fayemi through a text message on Saturday night, saying, “Up till now, he has not done anything on it, but he has been calling our members to go and impeach me tomorrow (Monday). As I speak with you, seven of our members are locked up in a guest house in Ado Ekiti in cahoots with some of his former aides.
“They don’t want democratic processes to take place in the Assembly and these people are even with arms, saying they are going to assassinate the speaker and take over the place tomorrow (Monday) morning.
“Majority of the members of the Assembly voted for me, but a few of them, who felt that perhaps I did not follow the directive of the former governor of the state, felt that they would make the place ungovernable for my administration.”
The Speaker said, “The Special Adviser on Political Matters to Governor Biodun Oyebanji assured that the government was looking into it and that there would be amicable resolution until about 24 hours ago when we began to see that some clandestine moves are being made to invade the House of Assembly on Monday morning.
“I want prominent people in Ekiti State like Aare Afe Babalola, Chief Wole Olanipekun and Femi Falana and all our traditional rulers to be on the lookout and save democracy in Ekiti State.”
Chaos in the Assembly was ruled out by Yinka Oyebode, Special Adviser to Governor Oyebanji on Media, who spoke on the program.
He said, “I will assure you there won’t be breakdown of law and order on Monday because the governor is in touch with all the warring factions to ensure that they reconcile amicably their differences. I believe that we have absolute confidence in the leadership of the House. They have been there for almost three and half years and it has been rancour-free.”
Fayemi did not respond to phone calls or a text message, making attempts to gain his reaction fruitless.
