Fayose Raps Ekiti CJ over Comment on New Judiciary Complex

Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti

For allegedly describing the new court built by the administration of former Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose as a ‘hybrid of absurdity’, the immediate past governor has told the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Ayodeji Daramola to stop making comments that could portray him as being political,

In a statement issued yesterday by Fayose’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Idowu Adelusi in Ado Ekiti, the former governor said the new state-of-the-art High Court complex remains a masterpiece that can’t be despised by the criticism of his detractors.

“Reproach and bad-belle apart, the high court complex built by Fayose is world class. It is also the first of its kind since the creation of Ekiti state in 1996.

“If Daramola cannot commends me , he could as well shut up his mouth and stop behaving like a baby,” Fayose said.

Daramola had during the commencement of Legal Year by Ekiti judiciary on Tuesday, described the high court as a ‘hybrid of absurdity’ on the premise that it was wrongly designed, adding that this had prevented the judiciary from putting the complex named after the first CJ of Ekiti, Justice Ademola Ajakaiye, into use.

Also on the same day, the Council of Traditional Rulers through its Chairman, Oba Ademola Ademolaju, alleged that his members allegedly had a raw deal under Fayose in terms of welfare and patronage.

But Fayose described the statement as an after-thought and an exercise in futility, saying “It is shameless pull-him-down syndrome at work.

“Daramola was there at commissioning; he should have spoken there and then or is he a coward? Disparaging Fayose now is an act of cowardice.

“Speaking now after Fayose has left office is tantamounts to back-biting and stabbing the former governor in the back”

“Justice Daramola has never hidden his displeasure towards Fayose, dating back many years. He had time and again allowed himself to become willing tool in the hands of some politicians to be used against the former governor.

“Throughout the four years of Fayose’s administration, Justice

Daramola never attended state functions personally and on the day when the foundation of the new high court complex was being laid, Justice Daramola openly expressed doubt of Fayose completing the project.

“In this regard, what does any right-thinking person expect Justice Daramola to say of one of Fayose’s legacy projects?”

Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the State, has described as “irresponsible, fallacious and ill-informed” the claims by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state that cases of assassination had soared after Governor Kayode Fayemi was sworn in on October 16, 2018.

Following last week night shooting of Ekiti State lawmaker, Hon. Michael Adedeji, that resulted in his death on Monday, the state Chairman of PDP, Gboyega Oguntuase, had in a statement accused the Fayemi’s two-week administration of encouraging assassination without response to check the trend.

But in a statement by APC Publicity Secretary, Ade Ajayi, the party said PDP was “irresponsibly distorting facts and history” by claiming that the state had never witnessed the spate of assassinations like in the two-week administration of Governor Fayemi.

He said: “The list is endless, including Dr Ayodeji Daramola and Tunde Omojola in 2006 while the murders of Kehinde Fasuba and Omolafe Aderiye were allegedly linked to the activities of armed gangs allegedly working for PDP leaders.

“Also a day after this incident, Wale Adeniyi, a graduate entrepreneur in Ikere-Ekiti, was found dead along Iju-Ikere road after an encounter with gunmen.

“In fact, the killings in the northern axis of the state around

Oke-Ako were as a result of Fayose dismantling of a well-funded security system put in place in that area by Fayemi, resulting in herdsmen’s threats that claimed the lives of some residents.

“Again, Fayose refused to fund the multi-million naira Police Crime Detection/Tracking Device facility inaugurated by Fayemi at the State Police Headquarters in Ado-Ekiti, thus leading to a collapse of a security system that kept criminals at bay.”