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POLITICS
Police Seal-off Ekiti Assembly Building
November 16, 2022 Ekiti Assembly, Ekiti news, Ekiti Speakers, News Update
All is not well with the Ekiti State House of Assembly as security operatives sealed off the complex on Wednesday to forestall the breakdown of law and order.
There were suggestions from security officials that mayhem could be unleashed on the assembly after a new Speaker, Gboyega Aribisogan, was elected on Tuesday.
He replaced Funminiyi Afuye, who recently passed away.
Although the election of Mr Aribisogan ended peacefully, it was gathered that his emergence was against the interest of some powerful persons within the All Progressives Congress in the state.
Bunmi Adelugba, from Emure Constituency, was said to be the preferred candidate of the party leaders but was defeated during the voting.
The defeat was said to have sparked controversy, as some party leaders had earlier met with the lawmakers and had given a directive that Ms Adelugba should be elected.
When journalists visited the assembly complex around 12 noon on Wednesday, armed police officers were stationed at strategic locations in the House to prevent a likely “invasion” and a breakdown of law and order.
Employees of the assembly were also sent home, leaving the complex empty.
A member of staff of the assembly, who asked not to be named, said the order to vacate the complex came from the police headquarters.
“There was an order from the State Police Headquarters that workers should vacate the assembly in the interest of peace,” he said.
“We learnt some people were planning to attack the House of Assembly.”
Mr Aribisogan, however, told journalists there was no crisis in the assembly.
“The leadership of the police command in Ekiti informed us this morning that they had verifiable intelligence about some hoodlums coming to attack the assembly complex and to avoid a breakdown of law and order, hence the need for their presence and they have promised us to conduct an investigation on the matter and report to us before the close of work today,” the new speaker said.
“I want to encourage my colleagues and staff of the assembly to be patient and bear with us, normalcy will soon return to the house.”
The Police Public Relations Officer, Ekiti Command, Sunday Abutu, said they took prompt action by placing restrictions to prevent the breakdown of law and order.
Mr Abutu said the members of the public should not entertain fear, saying the deployment was to safeguard lives and government property as there were signs that security was about to be breached at the Assembly complex.
“We acted on security alert we received that some people were planning to invade the assembly, and we owe it a duty to safeguard the lives of the people and public utilities,” the police spokesman said.
“We can’t wait or tarry and allow the lives of the staff of the assembly to be threatened by any means. So, we took proactive measure by deploying our men there to secure the assembly complex.
“Our people shouldn’t see our action as a big deal. No course for alarm. We are on top of the situation.”
Ms Adelugba is believed to be backed by former governor Kayode Fayemi for the position and also had the blessing of party leaders in the APC.
She had also lost her bid to earn the ticket for the Ekiti South Federal Constituency 2 during the primaries even though she allegedly had the backing of the then-governor.
She was defeated by the incumbent, Femi Bamisile, in the House of Reps primaries held in May.
