The 19 All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers in the Ekiti State House of Assembly have refuted a report that Governor Ayodele Fayose had paid their outstanding salaries and allowances.

They claimed that the embargo on their salaries and allowances has not been lifted, adding that the payment or non-payment of their financial entitlements cannot prevent them from defending the constitution which they swore to protect.

A statement by Speaker Adewale Omirin’s Special Adviser on Media, Wole Olujobi, said the report was mischievous, lacking the basic tenet of journalism to always report facts in place of rumours and unfounded allegations.

The lawmakers said they were shocked that the reporter did not dwell on their responses when he called them, preferring to file his report based on rumour, blackmail and outright lie.

They said: “It is shocking that the reporter chose not to believe us but overzealously believe in the purported sources that thrive on falsehood, lies and propaganda.

“The reporter in one breath said his investigation revealed that the lawmakers had been paid, yet he reported that both Fayose and the lawmakers did not confirm the report as they refused to talk to him.

“If this were the case, then who are the sources that confirmed to the reporter that the lawmakers had been paid?

“To make matters worse, contrary to the reporter’s claim that we did not talk to him, we told him at our end that we have not been paid.

“Apart from getting this fact from us, the Speaker’s media aide told him the same and so we are surprised that the reporter is claiming that he received no information from us.

“In fact, as at Saturday night, the alerts we received from our bank were debit alerts and so we wonder where the reporter got his story.

“It is unfortunate that just because the reporter wanted to file an exclusive report for his paper, he went ahead to report this falsehood motivated by blackmail.

“Let us even agree without conceding that we were paid our lawful entitlements, what favour does the governor do to us by that after illegally cutting short our tenure by seven months and putting us in harrowing inconveniences in addition to his brazen rape on the constitution?

“Must payment of our legal entitlements prevent us from defending the constitution which we swore to protect?

“Where are the indications of payment when embargo is placed on our accounts by the governor? Even those who should know in government are wondering where the reporter got his story because there was never any payment to the lawmakers.

“This is irresponsible journalism at its worst and it is unfortunate that this is coming from a reputable medium.

“We know that this is exactly what the governor would be telling the press when he conceded to pay us to forgo resuming our duties, which we rejected.

“When the reporter was calling the Speaker, his media aide and later the lawmakers, the response he got was that they had not received any alert.

“In fact as we speak, the governor‘s embargo is still on our accounts and nobody has been notified that he or she has been paid and so we wonder where the reporter got his information.”

*Adapted from The Nation. Photo shows Fayose