Ondo REC Adebayo Quits

Adebayo Ayoka

Former Resident Electoral Commissioner for Ekiti State Mrs. Ayoka Adebayo bowed yesterday to public pressure: she quit her job.
Mrs Ayoka served a notice of resignation on the management of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
It was learnt that the notice was submitted personally by Mrs. Adebayo at the office of the INEC chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega.
The resignation of Mrs. Adebayo, who is now the outgoing REC in Ondo State, will however take effect from January 1, next year.
Investigation by The Nation showed that Mrs Adebayo threw in the towel, following talks with Jega, her role model, ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, and her relatives.
It was learnt that based on the outcome of the talks, Mrs. Adebayo last Thursday directed her staff in Ondo State to start preparing her handover notes.
The sudden directive was said to have caught most of her staff unawares.
It was gathered that the staff later discovered that Mrs. Adebayo had written a draft of her resignation letter, which was eventually submitted to INEC yesterday.
A reliable source, who spoke in confidence, said: “Mrs. Adebayo came to INEC headquarters yesterday with some of her aides. I think she came to submit the notice of disengagement.
“But all top officials of the commission kept the information under wraps. She will certainly leave by January.
“Since Mrs. Adebayo had talks with Jega about two weeks ago, there had been pressure on her to quit because there is no way INEC could conduct election in 2011 with a controversial REC.
“We learnt that during interaction with Mrs. Adebayo, the INEC chairman also persuaded her to step aside as ‘a matter of sacrifice for the nation and its electoral process, not as a result of any indictment’. Jega knew that INEC could only advise the REC because the commission has no power to remove her.
“At a point, Jega told Mrs Ayoka that there is only one year age gap between the woman and his mother. So, he asked Mrs. Adebayo to see his advice as a “son-to-mother type.”
It was also gathered that ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, who is Mrs. Adebayo’s role model and godfather, advised her to “quit since she is not being appreciated despite her sacrifice during the April 2009 Ekiti governorship poll re-run”.
The source added: “I can assure you that she is leaving for good. Going by the tone of her draft resignation letter, she might quit from January 1, 2011.”
All INEC, who could confirm Mrs Ayoka’s resignation notice, switched off their telephones last night.