As Ekiti Assembly petitions NASS, Amnesty Int’l over issue

Ado-Ekiti—The Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, Prof Ben Angwe has said that the commission will investigate the travel restriction allegedly placed on the Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose and one other governor from the South South by the Federal Government.

Prof Angwe made this known while addressing members of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, who were in his office yesterday, to submit a petition on the alleged placement of travel ban on Governor Fayose and the refusal of the Department of State Services, DSS, to obey a Federal High Court judgment, ordering the agency to pay N5 million damages for the illegal arrest and detention for 18 days of a member of the House, Hon Afolabi Akanni.

President Buhari

He commended members of the House of Assembly for their commitment to the sustenance of rule of law in the country and cooperation with the executive arm of government in Ekiti State, urging lawmakers in other States to emulate them.

Ekiti State House of Assembly had petitioned the NHRC, National Assembly, Amnesty International, Embassies of the United States and the United Kingdom over the alleged plot by the Federal Government to prevent Governor Fayose from traveling outside Nigeria without getting clearance from the DSS.

The petition, which was signed by the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Kolawole Oluwawole, was submitted by the Deputy Speaker, Hon Segun Adewumi; Chairman House Committee on Information, Hon Gboyega Aribisogan and Chairman House Committee on Health, Dr Samuel Omotoso.

The petition submitted to the NHRC reads partly; “We write to bring to your attention another impending infringement on the rights of the Governor of our State, Mr Ayodele Fayose and by extension the entire Ekiti by the Federal Government.

“We however know as always that this latest plot is as a result of our governor’s critical stance on President Mohammadu Buhari’s government and its anti-people’s policies, and we make bold to say that no amount of intimidation, harassment and oppression will cowed the governor from exercising his fundamental rights to freedom of expression and to hold opinions as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended).’

“Our question is; if Governor Fayose has become a threat to the security of Nigeria just because he criticises President Buhari and says the truth about his mis-governance of the country, what happens to Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended), which provided for freedom of expression and freedom to hold opinions?