Traditional rulers in Ekiti State have urged the impeached Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Gboyega Aribisogan, to withdraw the suit he has filed against his sack from office from the Court.
The monarchs at a peace meeting held at the Ewi’s Palace in Ado Ekiti on Monday urged Aribisogan to obey their resolution to withdraw the case he filed in court and should know that he has a political future in the state.
This was part of the five-point resolution arrived at during a peace meeting brokered by the Ekiti State Council of Traditional Rulers to resolve the dispute brought about by the change in leadership in the Assembly.
The Ekiti Obas led by their Chairman, the Onisan of Isan Ekiti, Oba Gabriel Ayodele Adejuwon, in the resolution with the two sides in the dispute.
The traditional rulers called on Aribisogan to go back and join his colleagues and forget about laying claim to the position of Speaker for the Assembly to move forward and for the State to enjoy peace.
The Obas also advised that the majority members of the House must accept Aribisogan back, lift his suspension and drop other punitive measures against him after fulfilling the conditions spelt out for others.
All the 16 members present with the Speaker unanimously agreed that she is the validly elected Speaker of the Ekiti State house of Assembly.
The Obas also resolved that the state All Progressives Congress (APC) Chairman, Barrister Paul Omotoso, should go back to the party caucus and decide about what to do with Aribisogan’s matter with a view to accommodating him as a member of the party (APC).
The monarchs noted that the party should know that some of its members are aggrieved which might have been the reason why and why some of the lawmakers disobeyed the party in the first place urging the party leadership to do the needful by always serving the interest of its members.
The resolution was arrived at after the traditional rulers took excuse and met for about 30 minutes and later invited the lawmakers the adoption the resolution
In his response, Aribisogan said he had heard what the Obas said but pointed out that he has decided to go to court and clear his name and not to come back to the House saying “once somebody is impeached, he cannot be elected until after 10 years.”
Aribisogan said the court case was filed to enforce his fundamental human rights adding that he would go back to his lawyers and feed them back with the resolution of the Ekiti Obas.
Other monarchs at the meeting included Ogoga of Ikere, Oba Adejimi Adu; Oloye of Oye, Oba Oluwole Ademolaju; Alara of Aramoko, Oba Adegoke Adeyemi; Owa Ajero of Ijero, Oba Adebayo Adewole; Olojudo of Ido, Oba Ilori Faboro; Olomuo of Omuo, Oba Noah Omonigbehin and Alaaye of Efon, Oba Emmanuel Aladejare.