APC berates Obaseki over denying 1.6m people representation in Edo govt

The All Progressives Congress (APC) on Monday berated Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State over excluding several constituencies from participation and representation in the governance of the state. The APC chided the governor for the exclusion of majority constituencies in the State from being represented in the State House of Assembly (EDHA).

APC leaders in a statement after a meeting in Auchi, Etsako West Local Government Area, Edo State, on Monday, by Sunny Ifijen, Convener of the meeting, decried that majority residents in the state are being deprived representation in the State legislature following the refusal of Governor Godwin Obaseki to inaugurate members of the House after their election.

Ifijen in the statement lamented that the excluded lawmakers denied the constituencies the benefits of the dividend of democracy, and also losing their voices through which they convey their demands and hold the government accountable.

The APC protested that the “present situation where only 10 members currently sit and make law in the Edo State House of Assembly is an affront on the constitution and have also made mockery of the nation’s democracy.

“Where only 10 members were nocturnally inaugurated on June 17, 2019, and 14 others deprived their inauguration by Governor Godwin Obaseki who have also muzzled the Judiciary over the fate of the 14 lawmakers elect, is executive rascality and a slap on Nigeria democracy.

“It is regrettably historic that nearly three years after the election, 14 constituencies are without representation in the Edo Assembly.

“The implication is that the voices of over 1.6 million people are not being heard in the Edo Assembly. The absurdity in Edo Legislature is a rape on Nigeria democracy.

“Bauchi State that had a similar crisis in June 2019 had resolved in the same 2019 because the governor, Senator Bala Mohammed, proved to be a better democrat than Edo Governor.”

APC blasted Governor Obaseki over perceived subversion of judicial processes in the State High Court, and interventions of Civil Society, National Assembly and Code of Conduct Bureau, to restore democracy in the state and reinstate the 14 lawmakers denied sitting in the state legislature after their election by their various constituencies.