A lawmaker who got suspended in Ekiti State, has stormed the House of Assembly claiming to have resumed his duties.
Ekiti State House of Assembly
It was pure drama that took place recently at the Ekiti State House of Assembly on Thursday when a suspended lawmaker, Gboyega Aribisogan stormed the complex to resume duties.
According to Vanguard, the Lawmaker who was suspended for 180 legislative days, October last year, returned to work yesterday and headed for the Office of the Clerk, Tola Esan, where he submitted a letter conveying the decision of his Constituency that he should resume his legislative duties.
But the Assembly which got wind of Aribisogan’s plan to resume refused to hold plenary to prevent the representative of Ikole Constituency 1 from coming back to the chamber.
The legislator was suspended for 180 legislative days on October 6 last year by the Assembly for allegedly holding meetings with the political opponents of Governor Ayo Fayose in Lagos. Aribisogan denied the allegation.
Speaking with reporters on Thursday, Aribisogan said he has resumed his legislative duties according to the wishes of the people of his constituency whom he said have consulted the House Standing Rules and Constitution and discovered the illegality of his suspension by his colleagues.
Aribisogan said: “I have resumed at the Assembly and i want to say without any fear of contradiction that they have no right to suspend me for 180 days. The Standing Rules say they have no right to suspend me for more than 14 legislative days.
“Having consulted with my constituency, they went through the Standing Rules and the Constitution and they discovered that the House was wrong to have suspended me for 180 legislative days.
“There is no way they can prevent me from coming to the chamber; I am loyal to my constituents and I am loyal to the Constitution. Their failure to sit today cannot prevent me from performing my legislative functions.
“I man loyal to my constituency who voted for me and sent me to the House to represent them and not to an individual. For how long will they avoid me? I am back for good.”