Politics

Fresh crisis looms over Fayose’s illegal impeachment

Published

7 years ago

May 23, 2017

Olu Emmanuel

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Governor plans to seek another election

Fresh constitutional crisis looms in Ekiti State over the tenure of Governor Ayodele Fayose whose impeachment in 2006 by Ekiti State House of Assembly was declared illegal by the Supreme Court. National Daily reports that that illegal impeachment costed Fayose an incomplete first tenure in office which would have ended in 2007, when the second tenure ought to have begun too. Accordingly, the Supreme Court pronouncement precipitate the need to seek further constitutional interpretation and possibility of compensation or completion of tenure.

Accordingly, Governor Fayose was gathered to have, on Monday, revealed that he would seek legal means to complete his first tenure in office which was terminated before the expiration of the term.

Fayose, in the monthly public enlightenment programme, “Meet Your Governor in Ado Ekiti”, articulated that since the Supreme Court had ruled that his impeachment was illegal, null and void, he reserved the constitutional right to so contest the removal.

According to him, since his tenure had been adjudged by the Supreme Court to have been illegally truncated, he had no option than to approach the same court to seek interpretation of the judgement.

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The governor said the pertinent question to ask the court was whether by virtue of an earlier judgement in his favour dismissing his removal, he had no right to seek to complete his remaining tenure of seven months.

He said that the case as to whether he was entitled to complete his tenure or not must first be determined before there could be another governorship election in the state in 2018.

Fayose was sworn in for the first term tenure in May 2003, but his tenure was terminated through impeachment on October 16, 2006.

Fayose’s impeachment orchestrated the height of crude power politicking. The Committee set up to investigate the allegations against the governor had exonerated him from all the allegations. By the prescription of the constitution, that ends the process. Ironically, the powers from above compelled the setting up of another committee which thereafter, under duress, indicted Fayose, thereby, facilitating his impeachment.