Former Ekiti State Governor, and current Minister of Solid Minerals, Kayode Fayemi, has been summoned to appear before the state House of Assembly over allegations bordering on misappropriation and diversion of public funds.
This would be the third time the House will be summoning the former governor.
The Assembly had alleged that Mr. Fayemi diverted the sum of N850 million State Universal Basic Education (SUBEB) counterpart fund.
The summons came barely 24 hours after Mr. Fayemi, who is also the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, took a member of the Assembly, Samuel Omotoso, to court for defamation.
The minister is claiming N3billion damages against Mr. Omotoso and Lere Olayinka, the spokesman of the Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, for libellous statements against his person.
But the Assembly frowned at the conduct of the minister in not honouring the invitation, accusing him of causing the setbacks witnessed in the development of the state.
“The house is empowered by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under Section 129, Sub section 6, to issue a warrant of arrest to bring him before the court,” Mr. Omotoso said in his comments on the floor of the house.
Another member of the house, Titilayo Owolabi, said the former governor should be given another opportunity to appear before the House on February 7.
She said the former governor should be compelled to obey the summon as “nobody is above the law’.”
Ekundayo Akinleye, another member, expressed dismay at the damage the former governor had caused the state.
Spokesman for Mr. Fayemi, Olayinka Oyebode, said the summons seemed a joke, because he only read about it on the social media.
“We are yet to see any summons as I speak to you, but if there is anything like that, it will not be unconnected with the fact that the minister took one of the members to court for defamation,” he said.
According to him, no further comments would be made until a formal letter of invitation was received from the Ekiti State Assembly.
The assembly threatened to invoke Section 129 (d) of the 1999 Constitution by issuing a warrant of arrest against him if he failed to appear.
“We have serious allegations of financial misappropriation against him, misapplication of funds, and fraudulent malpractices while he was the governor of Ekiti State, the house chairman, Committee on Information, Samuel Omotosho said.
Fayemi’s summon comes days after Fayemi dragged chairman, Committee on Information, Samuel Omotosho, and a Special Adviser to Governor Ayodele Fayose on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka to court.
The assembly at its plenary on Thursday decried the nonchalant attitude of the Minister of Steel and Mines Development to previous invitations and described this as unbecoming of a public figure who had also served the people.
