Renewed tension in Edo, as Obaseki adopts ‘sole administrator’ in governance

There is renewed tension in the politics of Edo State as some political actors in the state are reviving agitations against the shut out of 14 lawmakers from the Edo State House of Assembly, unwillingness to conduct local government elections and other appointments, by Governor Godwin Obaseki.  The discontented political actors are accusing Governor Obaseki of transforming himself into a ‘sole administrator’ in the governance of the state since his election about two years ago.

The protesting lawmakers raised alarm that the governor has been administering the state with minority legislators, contrary to the prescription of the constitution.

One of the lawmakers, Chris Okaeben, speaking on ARISE TV on Sunday monitored by National Daily from Lagos, accused Governor Obaseki of dictatorship. He stated that there are 24 lawmakers in the Edo State House of Assembly, adding that Governor Obaseki excluded 14 legislators and working with 10 members, among whom one is a member of the APC and 9 are members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The 14 legislators that were not inaugurated by the governor are APC members, according to Okaeben.

He stated that there are 20 local governments in the state, and that each lawmaker in the state Assembly represents one local government. the lawmaker argued, therefore, that Governor Obaseki has excluded 14 local governments from being represented in the state legislature and shut out from the government of the state under the Obaseki administration.

The lawmaker further protested that Governor Obaseki has not allowed local government elections to hold in the state.

Chris Okaeben further stated that Obaseki left the APC because crisis he instigated; adding that the governor has exported the same crisis to the PDP which gave him ticket for the governorship election. The lawmaker accused Obaseki of causing crisis in the PDP, forcing his way to pull down original members of the PDP in Edo State and become the godfather.

Okaeben said that Governor Obaseki told Edo people during the campaign for his second term election that he left the APC because former APC national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, was playing himself as a godfather who wants to control everything in the party and the state government. The lawmaker noted that the godfather the governor claimed to fighting in the APC is what he intends to transform into in the PDP, causing crisis in the party.  He said that Governor Obaseki was not a politician, adding that former Governor Oshiomhole brought him into government, then, persuaded other APC members, then, to cede the governorship ticket to Obaseki.

Okaeben declared that they are all Oshiomhole’s boys, Governor Obaseki inclusive. He berated Governor Obaseki for referring to the 14 lawmakers in the state assembly as Oshiomhole’s boys, challenging the governor to trace the root of his partisan politics in Edo State.

The lawmaker recalled the interventions of President Muhammadu Buhari to resolve the crisis in Edo State at the time Obaseki was still in APC, but the governor ignored the president’s intervention. Okaeben also recalled that the National Assembly also waded into the crisis and was about taking over the duty of the House, alleging that Governor Obaseki sent some people to run to Rivers State to get injunction to restrain the National Assembly from taking over the duties of Edo State House of Assembly.

Okaeben also added that the Attorney General of the Federation and the Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, had directed the Inspector General of Police to provide security for the 14 lawmakers to resume duty, saying that Governor Obaseki went to allegedly remove the roof of the building under the guise of carrying out repairs, just to find reason to shut down the Assembly complex and frustrate the lawmakers from resuming their duties.

Okaeben was of the view that all the activities of the House over the years have been illegal, arguing that the House has not been properly inaugurated. He insisted that all the legislative functions carried out so far in are breach of the constitution.  He noted that the suit has been in the court for long, lamenting that the court has continued to delay judgement.

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Okaeben, however, disclosed that they will sustain the battle to reclaim their mandates to represent their people in the state legislature, saying that they are not giving up.

Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has no contemplation to conduct by-election into the 14 seats that have not been occupied on the Edo State House of Assembly after the long period of time. The INEC has, however, referred to the pending suit in court, and has to wait till the conclusion of the suit.

The 14 lawmakers are now putting pressures on the judiciary to ensure that the pending suit in court is not delayed further. Okaeben highlighted that they are making contacts with relevant authorities towards getting the court to deliver judgement on the suit.