Edo Crisis: NASS orders fresh inauguration for Edo Assembly

Members of the House of Representatives have given a one-week ultimatum to the the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, to issue a fresh proclamation for the Edo State House of Assembly.

The lawmakers arrived at the resolution on Wednesday while adopting the report of an ad-hoc committee mandated to investigate the crises in the state legislature.

The House of Representatives had set up a 13-member ad-hoc committee to investigate the crises in the Edo State House of Assembly.

While adopting the recommendations presented by Abdulrazak Namdas, chairman of the committee, the house also directed that all actions taken by the current assembly in Edo should be declared null and void pending proper inauguration.

“All Members of the Edo State House of Assembly, both those who have been inaugurated and those who have not been inaugurated should dissolve their factions in the interest of peace and stability of the House with the view to moving the State forward.

“The Inspector-General of Police (IGP) and the Director-General (DG), Department of State Service should shut down the Edo State House of Assembly and provide adequate security to allay further fears of intimidation and threat as alleged by Members-elect,” the recommendations read.

The House agreed that where the above recommendations fail, the National Assembly shall invoke the Provisions of Section 11(4) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) which empowers it to take over the State House of Assembly until the situation normalises.

The Edo State House of Assembly has been embroiled in controversies over the ‘inauguration’ and the ‘election’ of a new Speaker for the Edo State House of Assembly.

This development has also lent credence to the existence of a rift between the APC national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole and the state governor, Godwin Obaseki.

All the 24 members of the state assembly belong to the APC.

Advertisement

But nine of them, allegedly prompted by the state governor, hurriedly met at night to ‘inaugurate’ the House and also ‘elect’ a speaker.

The other lawmakers-elect were excluded in order to prevent Mr Oshiomhole’s loyalists from taking control of the legislature, PREMIUM TIMES learnt.

The relationship between Mr Oshiomhole, and his protégé, Mr Obaseki, has broken down.

Mr Oshiomhole, a former governor of Edo, helped Mr Obaseki to succeed him as the state governor in 2016, against all the odds.

The governor is likely going to seek re-election next year.

Newsflash Nigeria is an online newspaper that is developed and written exclusively for Nigerians. It’s packed with up-to-the-minute Local and National Economy News, Share & Capital Market, Health, Sports, Education, Technology, Business and Opinions.

To make further advert enquiries or place an order, please contact us at [email protected] and +2348053316946 and WhatsApp number 08033546732