Priscilla Ediare, Ado-Ekiti
The Ekiti State House of Assembly has suspended Mr Femi Ayodele, the Chairman of Ikere Local Government over alleged unauthorised presidential campaign publication for Gov. Kayode Fayemi.
The suspension was through unanimous votes by the lawmakers during the Assembly’s sitting in Ado-Ekiti on Friday. The members voted following a motion by the Majority Leader, Gboyega Aribisogan, which was supported by Mr Tajudeen Akingbolu, representing Ekiti West Constituency I.
The two legislators urged the house to investigate the chairman’s alleged involvement in the unauthorised presidential campaign posters of the governor.
They held that the chairman should be suspended and investigated, stressing that the act was in flagrant disregard to extant regulations in the state.
Commenting on the matter, the Speaker, Mr Funminiyi Afuye, directed that the investigation should be concluded and reported to the house within one week.
With the 2023 presidential election about three years away, the campaign posters of Governor Fayemi, seeking to contest for the presidency were widely circulated on social media earlier.
The posters carrying his photograph and campaign on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress was sponsored by the now suspended council chairman, Ayodele. The message on the posters with APC logo read, “Support His Excellency Dr. John Kayode Fayemi for President 2023.”
Mr Ayodele, had in media reports said he did the posters to show his unalloyed and uncompromising loyalty to Governor Fayemi against insinuation that he was working against him. He said the governor is fit enough for the exalted office considering his array of outstanding credentials, administrative shrewdness and political acumen. He added that Fayemi’s commitment, resourcefulness and pedigree put him in good stead to lead Nigeria in the next political dispensation.
The Chief Press Secretary to Governor Fayemi, Yinka Oyebode had also said his principal did not know anything about the posters and that the sponsor was only expressing a mere personal opinion. However, many believe that Fayemi who is the Chairman of the influential Nigeria Governors Forum is nursing the ambition to succeed President Buhari in 2023.
