The ruling All Progressives Congress(APC) in Ekiti has passed a vote of confidence in the state Deputy Governor, Mrs Monisade Afuye.
The party’s State Publicity Secretary, Segun Dipe, made this known in a statement on Thursday in Ado-Ekiti.
Dipe described Afuye as a party faithful, who is competent and loyal representative of the party in government.
He said the deputy governor “matched the governor well, and that there is no reason for anyone to call for her removal from office.”
The APC spokesman noted that such call was “unnecessary”, stating that the party also lacked the power to grant it.
Dipe said the power to remove a governor or his deputy from office, if for any reason, is vested only in the State House of Assembly, and cannot be applied arbitrarily, rather it must follow due process.
He said the statement was necessary, following recent calls by some groups, demanding the removal of Afuye as deputy governor, citing academic qualification and incompetence.
“On the matter of academic qualification, the Constitution is crystal clear in Section 177 that the minimum qualification required of a governor and deputy governor is a Secondary School Certificate, or its equivalent, as recognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC).
“Also, it is only the State House of Assembly that can remove either the governor or the deputy governor, and the ground for which any, or both of them can be removed, is that of gross misconduct.
“Section 189(11), describes gross misconduct for which a governor or deputy governor can be removed as a grave violation or breach of the provisions of the Constitution, or a misconduct of such nature, as amounts in the opinion of the House of Assembly, as gross misconduct,” he said.
Dipe called on the people of the state to disregard the call by the group, as an intention to create a distraction in governance.
“We can further confirm that Mrs Afuye is a good compliment of the governor, Biodun Oyebanji, in the day to day running of the affairs of the State.
“The governor, on the other hand, has not for once complained of Mrs Afuye’s performance in office as deputy governor,” he said
