Omirin says he is still speaker as Fayose washes hands off his travails
APC lawmakers accuse Jonathan of complicity in assembly crisis
Shola Oyeyipo and Ojo Maduekwe in Lagos and Olakiitan Victor in Ado Ekiti
The pro-Fayose lawmakers in the Ekiti State House of Assembly on Thursday removed Hon. Adewale Omirin as the Speaker of the assembly and elevated the speaker pro-tempore, Hon. Dele Olugbemi, to occupy the seat.
The Deputy Speaker, Hon Tunji Orisalade, suffered a similar fate as he was equally removed and replaced with a female lawmaker, Hon. Abeni Olayinka, representing Ado constituency II.
The new speaker is a foundation member of the Campaign for Democracy, a human rights organisation.
Omirin, however, insisted that he remains the speaker of the assembly, saying two-thirds majority of the assembly was required to unseat him as stipulated by the 1999 Constitution.
Omirin, who reacted to the situation on a Lagos-based television,Africa Independent Television (AIT), said: “The 19 All Progressives Congress (APC) members are intact and we are outside the state because our state is not save for us. I don’t know where they got the two-thirds strength to remove me because that is what the laws required.
“They wanted to rewrite the constitution but this attempt will fail. Happenings in the state showed that the state Governor, Ayodele Fayose is fast becoming a maximum ruler and this cannot stand,” he stated.
The assembly is composed of 26 members and the number required to remove the Speaker based on this numerical strength is 18.Fayose, who washed his hands off the impeachment in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Idowu Adelusi, said the governor should not be linked with the happenings in the assembly.