Daily Independent (Lagos)
Gbenga Sodeinde
23 December 2008
Ado Ekiti — Uneasy calm pervaded Ekiti State on Monday, as the state governor, Segun Oni, swore in the new council executives that emerged winners at last Saturday's LG poll.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidates won in all the 16 local governments in the state.
Oni had enjoined the new council bosses to prioritise the development of their respective local government areas.
The governor's action has however come under condemnation by prominent politicians and stakeholders in Ekiti, including the former governor of the old Ondo State, Bamidele Olumilua and Oni's immediate predecessor, Ayo Fayose.
A statement by the Director of Publicity and Research, Ayo Fayose Foundation and Movement (AFFM), Funso Alarape, expressed sympathy with the people of Afao community whom it noted were "subjected to inhuman degradation and brutalisation by power-drunk gang acting the script of a failed government", during the local government election
"We are at a loss why Afao, the hometown of our revered leader and former governor, could be subjected to such a dehumanising treatment on a day the people of the town heeded the call to elect council officials. If not for providence, genocide would have been committed on the people of the community, whose only sin is that they share the same ancestry with Fayose."
National Coordinator of Ekiti Democratic Coalition Alliance (EDCA) and human rights activists, Morakinyo Ogele, described the swearing-in as an "extension of strings of illegalities trailing the Oni-led government".
Ogele posited that the election lacks merit and all the parameter required for a credible election
"The chairmen should reject this Greek gift, otherwise we will not hesitate to go to court to declare the election null and void, as we will not allow the Oni-led government to perpetrate this atavistic illegality on Ekiti people and get away with it", Ogele said.
A statement by the state Action Congress, through its chairman, Jide Awe said the swearing-in would not stand, adding that it was a mere official confirmation and conversion of caretaker candidates of the PDP.
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