Alo Abiola
The Speaker of Ekiti State House of Assembly, Rt Hon Adewale Omirin, has accused the state governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose of ordering the closure of his petrol station in Ado-Ekiti.
Omirin, who spoke against the action, said that intimidation and coercion will not force him to betray the people that voted him into office saying he would not buckle under undue political pressure to abandon his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Peoples Democratic Party for selfish and pecuniary motives.
The Speaker, in a statement by his special adviser on media, Wole Olujobi, explained that he has fulfilled all necessary environmental laws in the location of the filling station and got necessary approval, wondering why the governor was starting early by victimizing those who do not share his political beliefs.
But Fayose, who denied the allegation through his chief press secretary, Idowu Adelusi, said: “What Omirin was saying is a total false. No iota of truth in it. The essence of closing down petrol stations is to ensure sanity and safety in the state capital.
“When petrol stations are cited near public institutions or residential areas, everybody knows the danger it can cause if there is fire outbreak which has happened in some towns where lives were lost and property destroyed. Even in Lagos State, you cannot just cite petrol station anyhow”, the statement said.
“Omirin should have nothing to fear, because the Governor has nothing against him. He should behave like good politician and refrain from conniving with his party to do something unholy.
“His party lost the election and another Governor sworn, so we expect him to cooperate with the government than creating a stumbling blocks. If Omirin has nothing has no skeleton in his cupboard, ne should have nothing to fear”.
Claiming that one lawmakers who defected from the APC to PDP had already informed, the Speaker said “Honourable Joseph Dele Olugbemi had told me two days after the governor’s inauguration that he (the governor) had made up his mind to close my filling station over refusal to join PDP. Hon Olugbemi defected to PDP on the day Governor Fayose was inaugurated.
“I had earlier told the governor that in the interest of Ekiti people, the House of Assembly would work with him to deliver dividends of democracy for the good people of Ekiti State.
“I called the governor to confirm what the honourable member told me about the plan to close my filling station. The governor denied any of such plan, swearing that he would not pursue any victimization agenda against the opponents. But only yesterday the governor ordered the closure of the filling station, citing environmental factor,” the Speaker explained.
The state government had on Tuesday sealed some petrol stations in the state capital ordering them to submit their construction approval documents to the state Ministry of Environment.