The lingering crisis in the Edo State House of Assembly where 14 members are still waiting to be inaugurated three years after winning election has become the current point of discourse in the state, writes ADEYINKA ADEDIPE
The crisis rocking the Edo House of Assembly has so far defied solution despite spirited attempts by stakeholders to find a way out of the logjam and allow the 14 members who were not inaugurated to be sworn in and take their seats in the House. With their seats already declared vacant after they failed to show up over a period of time specified by law (180 sitting days), it is clear that the court which the government and the 14 members have approached in this matter remains the only solution to resolving this impasse after political solution seems to have failed.
The 14 members who have been shut out of the House have continually claimed that the inauguration which took place in the dead of the night with 10 members in attendance remains controversial. They stated that the proclamation which should have preceded the inauguration was not properly served, while questioning the rationale behind a late night inauguration supervised by Governor Godwin Obaseki.
The lawmakers-elect who are members of the opposition party in the state, the All Progressives Congress were not sworn in because they were said to be loyalists of a former governor of the state, Adams Oshiomhole, who at that time had fallen out with Obaseki, his erstwhile political godson.
Funnily enough, Obaseki was also a member of the APC as at the time of inauguration.
Any hope that the crisis may be resolved finally evaporated last weekend with the Deputy Governor of the state, Philip Shaibu, ruling out a political solution to the crisis, thus sealing the fate of the 14 member. That declaration made by the deputy governor last Saturday at the maiden meeting of the Edo State House of Assembly Former Members Forum held in Benin also brought the matter to the front burner once again.
The deputy governor said it was too late for the forum to seek political solution to the legislative impasse because the case rested with the Judiciary as the governor is not empowered by law to issue proclamation twice. He traced the trajectory of the crisis to the wrong counsel of Oshiomhole who encouraged the 14 legislators-elect not to make themselves available for inauguration. He said their seats were already declared vacant, noting that the anomaly of 10 members operating the Assembly was not initiated by the governor, accusing Oshiomhole of doing same while in office.
He noted that four of the 14 affected members-elect were close to him and he did all he could to persuade them to be inaugurated, warning them of the consequences of failure to heed his wise counsel. “The major issue here is that of godfather. We relocated the House of Assembly to the Government House in order to save the former governor from being impeached. Nine of us did that. Some people then boycotted the House for 181 days and the former governor told us that he prayed for them not to come back.
“So when this problem also started in 2019, we too prayed that they should not come back. The man who benefitted in the past is now at the receiving end,” Shaibu, who was once a Majority Leader of the Assembly, said.
He added, “I was with that former governor when he said no to godfathers, I was actively involved and when he turned around to play the role of a godfather, what he preached against. He said he was the governor and nobody can give him instructions. This time now, he wants to instruct and wants me to join him so that I will be the sole beneficiary and I said no. If tomorrow, Governor Obaseki turns around to instruct a sitting governor from outside, I will also go against him.”
With the crisis lingering more than expected, there are concerns that a major section of the state might be left out in infrastructural development as they have no representative in the House, where laws are made for the betterment of everyone.
But the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Marcus Onobun, dismissed the concerns, noting that budgetary allocation takes care of all the constituencies, including the ones not represented in the House, maintaining that the state government was desirous to see all sections of the state enjoy the dividend of democracy.
He said, “I have always maintained that once a lawmaker is elected and gets into the House, he is not representing his constituency but he will have to take part in making laws for the entire state. We also have a government that brings development to every part of the state irrespective of whether they have representatives in the House of Assembly. The government also ensures that the dividend of democracy gets to every part of the state. We don’t do what is called constituency project in Edo.
“For instance, in the area of health, Governor Obaseki is working to ensure we have primary healthcare centre in 192 wards in Edo State which cuts across all the constituencies. The same applies to renovation of schools and roads as well as the construction of new roads. Oredo Local Government where the Governor hails from has no representative in the House but you see massive development in the area as well as in other places in the state.
“This shows that the state government’s presence is felt everywhere in the state. The problem is that they chose to stay out and that is why their seats were declared vacant. This would have enabled INEC to conduct fresh election in 2019 but they went to court to stop that process. But if they had not gone to court, their party may have presented them again for the fresh election or get other people who are ready to work. The restraining order barring INEC from conducting a new election until when the matter is heard is what has taken us to this point.
“To me, it is a case of never say never. The first step of making progress is for this group to stop making all kinds of statement on social media platforms and seek ways to end the logjam. They are the ones in court. If they choose to withdraw the case, that will be the beginning of a political solution. It means INEC will now have the opportunity to conduct an election.”
Onobun stated that the deputy governor might have foreclosed a political solution to the problem based on the facts available to him.
For Washington Osifo, the spokesman for the 14 members who were not inaugurated, it is clear that the people are not only suffering in terms of representation in the House but also in the area of infrastructure.
Osifo said, “The people are suffering in all ways. They don’t have a voice; the people who are supposed to represent them in the House of Assembly are not there. The Chamber is a place where issue troubling various constituencies are tabled and looked into. The fact that the majority of the legislators are not represented in the House favours the Executive to maintain their budget and take care of areas they wish to take care of.
“In the case of my people, Uhunmwode, we are lacking in the area of education, road network and agro development. It will shock you to note that the local government is without a bank or ATM. This shows that the economic activities in that area is very low and there is no cash inflow, which makes the presence of a bank impossible.
Osifo places the blame on the state government’s footstep, noting that the nocturnal inauguration was something that is unimaginable. “It is the governor and his apologist that need to get the blame for the event of June 17, 2019 where few lawmakers were sworn in the night. Some of the people who were involved in that exercise were putting on knickers that night. You should know that anything that is done in the night can never be done well.
“There was an evil motive to it and they have continued to hold on to their position that we would not be sworn in. I have heard that the deputy governor, in a gathering of former legislators in the state last weekend, said the fate of the 14 legislators is sealed and that what we can do now is to withdraw the case and fresh election be conducted. It shows that political solution cannot be brought into it by this time.
“He has also shown that they are the ones holding us back and do not want us there. So, he has just passed a judgement and showed the role the Edo State Government is playing in the crisis. If a political leader is saying there is no political solution to a problem, it shows the colouration the case has taken.”
He is, however, optimistic that there would be a solution to the problem no matter how late. “We have always pressed for political solution even now that we are in court. We also sought a political solution before going to court. It is the frustration we encountered while seeking political solution that made us go to court. Now that the matter is in court, they are saying it is not something they can deal with. What I want to recommend is for the fourth estate of the realm (media) and the public to prevail on the judiciary to look into the matter and dispense justice. One way or the other, litigation must come to an end and judgement passed,” he added.
According to the state Chairman of the APC, Col. David Imuse (retd.), the sad development has put democracy in a bad shape in the state, noting that the executive has worked against the quick dispensation of justice in the case instituted in court by the 14 member who were not sworn in.
He said, “The APC and the people of Edo State must ensure that democracy is entrenched in the state. There cannot be a functional democracy without the legislature. The National Assembly members came to Edo and said the proper thing must be done and that the House must be inaugurated. Also, in a bid to truncate democracy and ensure those 14 members are not inaugurated, Governor Obaseki went to court to seek perpetual injunction, a case that has dragged on for over two and a half years. Since the matter has been in court, Obaseki has emasculated the judiciary and personalised it.
“The case has been taken to all eight high courts in Edo with no solution in sight. The case starts afresh when it gets to a new court. The same way Obaseki has emasculated the legislature, he is also doing same to the judiciary. Those constituencies that have been denied representation are angry and as a party, we have made it clear that what is happening in Edo is a democratic taboo, an aberration. If it is allowed to continue, it will become a tradition and if it is exported to other states, our democracy will be in danger. Obaseki will always be a reference. It is our duty to ensure this democracy survives. Edo should not be used as a wrong template for our democracy.
He noted that the 14 members did not refuse to be inaugurated but were schemed out in an attempt to keep them out of the House. “The constitution is clear on how to inaugurate a House of Assembly. Was the right thing done by the governor? Was the clerk of the Assembly given the opportunity to do his duty? So if he knew what he did was right, why did he run to the court? This is a governor that has never obeyed a court order but he runs to court over every issue that can be solved amicably. It is unfortunate we are in this dilemma.
“The fact is clear, the victory of evil over good is temporary and just a question of time, the right thing will be done. Those who make peaceful change impossible make violence change inevitable.”
However, the PDP chairman of the state, Tony Aziegbemi, said the development “is not a good one for the state” but noted that the interest of all the constituencies was taken despite the absence of the 14.
He said, “I don’t think that is the case despite the way the Assembly is presently constituted. The interest of all the constituencies is captured in the budgetary allocation. I am also sure that the members, in allocating budget to constituencies for projects and infrastructures, must consider every constituency even though they are not represented.
“The members in the House will discharge their duties with all the constituencies in mind. They won’t say because some members are not there, their constituencies will not be taken care of. Having said that, there will be some consequences for the people that are not represented. If they were in the Assembly, it would have rubbed off on their people because they would have appointed some assistants who will work with them thereby creating jobs. The constituency should be asking these members why they refused to be sworn in.
“I don’t think there is need for blame games. Blaming people will not solve any problem, I will rather look at the solution and the solution lies now in the judiciary. This is the problem of taking a case to court. That is why in political parties, they tell you to exhaust all crisis resolution mechanism. Once you get to court, you can’t decide how long the case will take and unfortunately there is nothing anybody can do about that.”
The PDP chairman exonerated Obaseki from the fate the case has suffered in the court. “You cannot blame the governor for the delay in the dispensation of justice. The employees of the High Court, including the judges, are not staff of the state and they don’t take directives from the state government. The judiciary is an independent arm of government; so, to say that the state government is deliberately making the process of getting justice difficult is wrong. We should not forget that lawyers use all kinds of method to help their clients. The occurrence is not a good one and this should not be happening in our darling state,” Aziegbemi added.
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