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Ekiti Governor-Elect's Top Aide Murdered After Beating Up Judges

The face-off between Ekiti State Governor-Elect, Ayo Fayose has claimed the life of one of his trusted aides, Mr. Omolafe Aderiye, a former Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers in the state.

The wave of political violence that has engulfed Ekiti State, Nigeria, in the past one week, has claimed the life of an aide of Ayo Fayose, the Governor-elect of the state.

The murdered right hand man of the governor is a former chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, (NURTW) in the state, Mr. Omolafe Aderiye, who is said to be a staunch supporter of Fayose, and one of those who has been in the forefront of the trouble currently bringing the state into a lockdown.

According to Saharra Reporters, Aderiye was yesterday evening shot dead by four unknown gunmen at the Ijigbo area of Ado-Ekiti the state capital.

The report has it that Aderiye was accosted and shot at close range while on his way home after a meeting with the governor-elect. The report also added that the late man was present at the Ekiti State high court yesterday where a Judge was brutally beaten up by pro-Fayose supporters.

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As widely reported on Thursday, 25 September, 2014, Ayo Fayose had led and supervised his political thugs to beat judges of the Ekiti State Judiciay, including the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Ayo Daramola and Justices Akintayo and Adeyeye, an action which led the Chief Judge to close down the courts till further notice.

It was also reported that the Governor-elect threatened to invade the Ekiti State Government House and force the incumbent, Kayode Fayemi out of offfice even before the hand-over date.

Days before then, thugs loyal to Ayodele Fayose had also stormed the Ekiti State High Court to disrupt proceedings in a case challenging his eligibility to contest the June 20 election won by him.

In that earlier attack, the Chairman of Ado West Local Council Development Authority, Mr Sunday Ibitoye, and others including judges, lawyers, security personnel and court offficials were attacked while Justice Olusegun Ogunyemi was smuggled out of the court to avoid being lynched by the thugs.

Justifying his actions, Fayose, in a press in Lagos, disclosed that the All Progressives Congress is plotting to ensure that the Speaker of the state House of Assembly becomes the next governor of the state instead of himself.

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The whole scheming in Ekiti State is just about the APC obtaining judgement through the back door after losing elections on June 20, 2014. You will recall that Segun Oni’s tenure was truncated through this back door judgement by some judicial officers who have been compromised.

But the All Progressive Party, APC in the state accused Fayose of either being ignorant of the law governing electoral matters or he was deliberately being economical with the truth.

In a statement issued by the Director of Publicity and Media of the party, Segun Dipe, the party advised Fayose to always consult his legal advisers before making any statement that would characterise him not only as legally deficient but as a desperado.

If Fayose is not ignorant of the law or opting for deliberate falsehood, he would not embark on a campaign of calumny against those who have chosen to embark on the path laid down in both the 1999 Constitution and Electoral Law 2006 in ensuring that justice is not only done but seen as done.

If the admission of Fayose’s spokesperson that his supporters carried out the act (attack on the judge) because the judge was allegedly biased is anything to go by, the question then remains; is the invasion of the hallowed chamber the next step to take as a form of appeal?

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