The Ekiti State House of Assembly on Friday directed the Chairman, Ikere Local Government, Mr Femi Ayodele, to step aside over an alleged unauthorised viral campaign poster seeking support for Governor Kayode Fayemi’s presidential ambition.

The Assembly at a plenary presided over by the Speaker, Funminiyi Afuye, said the decision was taken pending an investigation into the act which it considered as a “disregard for extant regulations.”

Ayodele, in a campaign poster that went viral, had solicited support for Fayemi’s presidential ambition in 2023.

But Fayemi immediately disowned the campaign poster, saying he did not authorise it.

The motion for the suspension and investigation into the alleged unauthorised campaign poster was moved by the Majority Leader of the Assembly, Chief Gboyega Aribisogan, and seconded by Mr Tajudeen Akingbolu.

The motion was entitled, ‘Calling for an investigation into the alleged unsolicited and unauthorised campaign in the media in flagrant disregard for extant regulations by the Chairman, Ikere Local Government Area, Mr Femi Ayodele.’

The House, through a resolution, committed the matter to its Committee on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs for an investigation and directed the committee to report to the House within one week.

The Assembly, however, directed Ayodele “to step aside pending the outcome of the matter.”

During the plenary, Mr Steven Aribasoye (All Progressives Congress, Ikole II) and Mr Olajide Adegoke (APC, Efon) called for appropriate sanctions against Ayodele.

The lawmakers also described the council chairman’s action as an “embarrassment to the government of Ekiti and Governor Fayemi, in particular, as well as against the Electoral Act.”