House of Representatives Majority
leader Femi Gbajabiamila has described Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose
as a meddlesome interloper following the letter he wrote to Chinese President
Xi Jinping on the alleged $6 billion loan sought by Nigeria from China.
In a letter to the Chinese leader
yesterday, Gbajabiamila said Fayose ignorantly overreached himself and
wilfully breached the constitution by failing to defend the oath he swore to.
The House leader, who said members
of the lower chamber were worried by the flagrant abuse of office by Fayose,
however, asked the Chinese leader to ignore him as he showed lack of
understanding of the workings of the federal system of government.
It reads: “My attention has been drawn
to a letter written to you by a governor of one of the states of in Nigerian,
wherein the governor purported to speak on behalf of the Nigerian people,
describing himself as a stakeholder in the Nigerian ‘project’.
“Ordinarily, I would not join issues with the governor but as the leader of the
House of Representatives, I am saddled with the responsibility of driving
government business and policies in the House.
“It is, therefore, incumbent upon me to
set the records straight, though I am sure the letter written to you by the governor
will probably receive little (if any) attention from your high office, assuming
it even gets to you.
“Mr. President, Nigeria as you
well-know is not a project as erroneously described by the governor, but a
nation as all others in the comity of nations. It is also a federal republic
operating under the principles of administrative and fiscal federalism.
“As such, as most democracies with a
federal structure, Nigeria operates a three-tier government and adheres to the
principle of separation of powers, which is both vertical and horizontal.
Horizontal between the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches and
vertical between the federal, state and local governments.
“To this extent, it is a clear affront
on our constitution and ultra vires his mandate for a governor of a federating
state to delve into any matter outside his state, particularly as it concerns
international agreements between two sovereign nations.”
The letter added: “Therefore a governor
who overreaches himself and acts outside his constitutional mandate can at best
be described legally as a meddlesome interloper…
“Finally Mr. President, yes we are a
democratic nation and yes citizens do have a right to freedom of expression
(though not absolute), however this letter to you by an opposition governor is
a new low in opposition politics.”
“What the state governor has done
amounts to attempted economic sabotage and subversion. I ask, therefore, that
you excuse the vituperations and exuberance of the governor as just that,” it
said.
