The Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, on Thursday bade farewell to the outgoing members of the House of Assembly, insisting that he had forgiven them for attempting to remove him from office.
Fayose said this in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Idowu Adelusi, even as the assembly’s tenure will expire on Friday (today).
Ekiti State had been under siege for the past three days, as thugs said to be loyal to Fayose blocked all roads leading to the Assembly complex to prevent the 19 All Progressives Congress lawmakers from sitting with the aim of impeaching him.
Fayose lamented how things ended between him and the lawmakers but promised that they would not be victimised after leaving office.
He said, “The last few months have been traumatic, especially this week. I was not given room for concentration, but I had left the battle for God to fight. I told those planning to impeach me that they will succeed if they can impeach God.
“I did not bring myself back to power; my coming back after eight years was divine. I defeated the APC totally in all the elections, still they did not want to concede victory easily until when the Ekiti people rose to defend that June 21 mandate.
“I will now squarely face the business of governance.”
He explained that he would not waste time on revenge, noting that he was not ready to muscle anyone since God had given him victory in all of the battles that confronted him.
The governor, who praised the people of the state for preventing the lawmakers from gaining access to the complex, urged them to meet him at Ijigbo junction on Friday for a ‘victory walk’ to the complex where he will inaugurate the next assembly which will comprise 26 members of the Peoples Democratic Party.
“The governor called on the people to gather at Ijigbo junction tomorrow (Friday), from where he would lead them on victory walk to the state House of Assembly for the inauguration of the new House of Assembly members,” the statement added.