Omirin: Fayose Should Rule With Fear Of God

Speaker, Ekiti State House of Assembly, Dr. Adewale Omirin, speaks with GBENRO ADESINA about the expectations of the House from the government of Ayodele Fayose How do you see the attack on the judiciary which has paralysed activities of courts in the state? It calls for concern. What happened in Ekiti State has never happened in the world except Uganda during the reign of Idi Amin; that was when we had a banana republic. What is happening in Ekiti State is a bad omen as far as democracy is concerned in Nigeria. We have three arms of government: Executive, Legislature and Judiciary. Causing mayhem in the court of law is a desecration of the temple of justice, which is not too good for our system. It is not found anywhere in the country. We should not be dragged back to the wilderness and dark ages. I am appealing to the governor-elect, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, and his party that the court is the last hope of the common man. If you feel aggrieved go to the court and if the judgment doesn’t favour you, go to Court of Appeal, and if you are not still pleased with the judgment there, go to the Supreme Court. Look at what happened yesterday. The deputy governor of Adamawa was given a judgment in the court and he was sworn in immediately. That is what we call democracy. If we continue this way, anybody can go to court with his cutlass underneath his cloth and if the court doesn’t do what favours him, such a person can bring out his cutlass and cut the judge. This is why I think that the judiciary should take the assault on them very seriously and deal with the perpetrators in a proper way. I believe nobody is above the law. But what I have found out in Nigeria is that laws are made for some people and that some people are above the law and I don’t believe that should be. How do we curb this kind of situation? Judiciary needs to take its stand on this situation because if nothing is done, it will repeat itself in this state and other parts of the country because precedence has been set. If something concrete is not done to what happened in Ekiti State, I can assure you, forget justice in Nigeria because, whenever it happens in another state, Ekiti State will be used as a reference point. [caption id="attachment_12023" align="aligncenter" width="300"] •Dr. Adewale Omirin[/caption] What should be the role of the Federal Government in this matter? Unfortunately, Federal Government has not made a statement on the judicial crisis in Ekiti State and that means consent. The President doesn’t see anything wrong in what the governor-elect and his party did in the state. I expected the Federal Government to have commented. What is your position on the comment of Senator David Mark saying that no one can stop the inauguration of Fayose? The Senate President’s statement was very unfortunate. He is a legislator and he knows what the rule of law says. He deals with the constitution every day. He makes amendments and repeals laws every day. I think he should know better. That kind of statement was not expected of him as the senate president of this country. Anything constitutional must be allowed to stay. Nobody is interested in Faysose not becoming a governor as long as the process that produces him is legitimate. The senate president has forgotten what the rule of law says when he made the statement and frankly speaking, it was an unfortunate statement from the senate president. What is the relationship between members of Ekiti State House of Assembly and the executive? As far as I am concerned, we have spent three years and four months and so far so good, the relationship among the three arms of government has been very cordial. We have a very cordial relationship with the executive and judiciary. Governor Kayode Fayemi has been a father to the House. He has provided all the things we need to work. He was instrumental to the legislators attending many capacity building workshops within and outside the country. He is very passionate about the development of the state. So we have no choice but to be on the same page with him so that we can move the state forward. When we are doing that, people think that we are a rubber stamp house. If the House has been a rubber stamp house and we have achieved what we have achieved, I don’t have apology for anybody for that. Because in a situation where the legislature and the executive are always at loggerheads, there will not be development in that state. Our relationship with the executive has brought tremendous development in the state. So in all ramifications, we are happy to be a rubber stamp house in the state. We are in a boat of development and success. We are very happy about that. What kind of relationship do we expect between the APC-controlled state Assembly and PDP-controlled executive? Well, as far as I am concerned, we don’t expect the relationship to change. The relationship we have with Fayemi is the same thing that we are expecting to have with Fayose, but he must rule with the fear of God. He must rule according to the rule of law. He must pursue all the developmental projects this government embarked on and to cap it all, he must respect the individual. The masses must be respected. If he is ready to do that, the House will work with him harmoniously irrespective of party affiliation. What we are particular about is the development of Ekiti State and if he is pursuing that, we have no choice than to partner with him to develop our state and move it forward. We are regarded as Fountain of Knowledge. I read in a paper where somebody said, Ekiti is fountain of anarchy. I don’t think we deserve such comment. We are peace-loving people. For the past four years the state has been adjudged the most peaceful state in Nigeria. What are the other expectations from the new government? The other expectations from the new government include finishing the projects that Fayemi started but could not finish. When Fayemi came on board he met some unfinished projects which he never abandoned. He went ahead and completed everything. Adejuyigbe Hospital and Ado-Iworoko Road were started by Segun Oni, Fayemi completed them and commissioned them. These are some of my expectations. All the projects yet to be completed should be completed. The welfare of the masses should be taken care of. Why does Fayemi owe salary which has led to teachers and other institutions embarking on strike? Fayemi’s fourth year will end in the next seven days. From the time he came to government, he has never owed a single month salary except this year August and September. Fayemi, in a television broadcast recently explained to workers that it is not his fault. You know our position in the allocation table. We are earning N2.4b in a month as our allocation and the salary of workers is N2.3b. What the government has been doing is that it has been having a standing arrangement with the bank. Whether the allocation comes or not, the bank pays the salary on 23rd of each month. So when the allocation comes in, the bank will deduct what they have paid and the interest from that money. But since we lost the election in June, the governor-elect has been going to that bank threatening them not to release money to the government; even the bank themselves don’t feel comfortable releasing money to the outgoing government. So that is why it is difficult for the outgoing government to pay salary and as I am telling you, the allocation of September has not come from the Federal Government in October. Even from the federal government, we are a month behind. So how does the state government pay the money it has not collected? The governor has paid August salary to some workers and he will complete it. All workers will get August salary before Fayemi leaves, remaining that of October, which the federal government has not released to him. Most parties in power always say that they will rule for a very long period, or they will rule for 50 years, how do you see that comment? No political party wants to lose election. So I don’t see that comment as something bad. It is their expectation but it is left for Nigerians to know whether they have ruled well and that they should continue to rule. But some of us in this country know how the ruling party at the centre fares. We hear a lot of scandals. A country that decided to go through the back door and transfer $9.3m to another country, claiming they want to buy arms with it, it is ridiculous. We heard of almost N112bn that was used for oil subsidy without being appropriated for. These are some of the things that are very absurd when you look at governance and government in Nigeria. As far as I am concerned, we don’t have any cause to be poor in this country. We make money on a daily basis. Nigeria is supposed to be one of the most powerful countries in the world in terms of financial muscle. Until Nigeria has leaders that are interested in the entity called Nigeria, unless we have leaders that have the interest of the masses at heart, until we have leaders that are ready to step on toes, things can’t change for better. We have had many people stealing our oil in the Niger Delta area. The trend has never beeen as bad as we have today. If everybody looked at what I have just said, I am sure Nigerians will not want PDP to continue ruling the country. Do you foresee some APC legislators in the state decamping to PDP for whatever interest. Do you also see yourself decamping? Nothing in life will make me leave my party, APC. I can’t go to PDP. Nothing in life will make me to go to PDP. PDP is a very bad party. If Jesus goes to PDP, they will remove that J and what next do we have? Esu, Satan! It is a very bad party and I can’t see myself joining PDP in life. What am I looking for? A party that specialises in all sorts of criminal activities? I will not. As far as the House is concerned, I can only vouch for myself. There is no way we will not have some people that will not go to the ruling party. But as I am sitting here today, nobody has indicated that he or she is moving to PDP. But I can tell you, we have 26 members in the house: 25 APC and one PDP. There is no way 25 of us can remain in APC till the end of Fayose’s government. Some people will want to move and it is normal. Everybody has his or her own conscience and everybody should be left to his or her conscience. But as far as I am concerned, I know, anyday, anytime, APC will continue to have majority in that House. What does the coming back of Fayose portend for Ekiti State? When he was seeking votes, he told everybody that he has changed. I prayed he has changed. His first tenure was not palatable to Ekiti State, to the masses, to the elites, and to everybody. But let us believe in what he said that he is a changed and more mature person. Are you re-contesting? By the grace of God, I am going to re-contest and I believe I am going to win and come back to the House. Not as Speaker? You can’t say. If my party has majority, they can still retain me as their speaker. But it doesn’t follow. I am returning back to the house. What is your message to Ekiti people? My appeal to our people is that they should cooperate with the incoming government just the way they cooperated with Fayemi. This also depends on the governor’s disposition to the people. If he wants the cooperation of Ekiti people he must have the fear of God in him; he must treat and respect the rights of everybody in the state. The legislature and judiciary must be respected and be free to operate in their own areas. The judiciary must be free to give judgment. For instance, during Fayemi era, the judiciary gave negative judgments about three times and nothing was done to them.