Mr Success Torhukerhijo, from the Ese Odo State Constituency, was one of the members of the Ondo State House of Assembly whose seats were declared vacant recently by the leadership of the House. He shares his position with PETER DADA
What was your reaction when your seat was declared vacant by the leadership of the House?
It came as a surprise. As the Chairman of the House Committee on Judiciary, I just championed the cause of the Ondo Multi-Door Court Bill. It was passed into law on Tuesday and it had come to our committee and we had a public hearing and other processes. So, I brought the report to plenary, they vetted it and caused the law to be passed in accordance with the rules of the House. After that, the Clerk of the House said there was a letter from the APC secretariat that myself and my colleague, Favour (Tomomewo), have been doing anti-party activities and by that reason, our seats are hereby declared vacant. Meanwhile, the so-called Speaker, (Bamidele) Oleyelogun, is being used against his people in that House, with his tendency to subject the House to the whims of people outside the House. Even if there were allegations against us, based on the principles of fair hearing, I think Oleyelogun, if he knows what he is doing, ought to have set up a committee to look into the matter so that they can also hear us. But based on what the state secretariat of the party (APC) brought, without recourse to us, he went ahead to make the pronouncement that our seats have been declared vacant. Such a thing cannot stand the test of time, it is pure illegality and I believe sincerely that it cannot stand.
You said so-called speaker, what do you mean?
The Speaker, in civilised climes, ought to be seen as defending his constituency but the interest of the House which is supposed to be protected is not properly protected and that itself is a very unfortunate incident. Some Houses of Assembly are seen as toothless bulldogs but I don’t even know how I will describe these ones. A good leader ought to defend its constituency. Honestly, I’m almost regretting being part of that kind of House of Assembly, a situation whereby a supposed leader would make his people vulnerable to attacks from outsiders. At the National Assembly, we heard 12 Senators submitted letters to the Senate President that they wanted to leave the party and nobody did anything to them other than to appeal to them. In my own case, the party said they expelled me sometime in 2020. They have not reversed that, yet the same people that said they expelled me are now accusing me of anti-party activities.
At the moment, are you still a member of the APC?
I will remain in the APC. I have not told anybody, neither have I written to the party secretariat that I have left the APC. I have also not done that on the floor of the House to say Mr Speaker, I’m no longer in the APC. Their records show that I’m committed to the APC. The party is still making deductions from my income and remuneration. So, where they suddenly woke up to say that I’m no longer in the APC is only known to them.
The allegation against you was that you were actively involved in the primary of the PDP. Is that true?
I did not participate in the primary of the PDP. The Independent National Electoral Commission was there as an observer. If I did, INEC would know. However, one cannot say in totality that I did not interface with the PDP at all. Some very good Samaritans from the party wanted me to run on their platform and they actually reached out to me and had an interface with me at that time, but I didn’t participate in the election and that has also not taken me out completely from my party. I did not participate in that primary.
What was the reason for your purported expulsion from the party then?
I think they did that as a result of our refusal to sign the impeachment of the former Deputy Governor, Agboola Ajayi. It would have been overreaching for me to sign the impeachment of the former deputy governor, who was from the constituency I represent, Ese-Odo Local Government. I said I could not do that, so I think that is one of those things. I think what they are trying to do is a witch-hunt for my refusal to sign the impeahment. I think they are stressing it almost beyond its limit.
What has been the reaction of your constituents to this development?
You need to get to our platforms; the Arogbo-Ijaw platforms. The truth is that the Arogbo-Ijaw people are a neglected minority in Ondo State and they have been getting the very best of representation from me. They feel slighted, cheated and they say this is one of the ploys to continue to subject the Ijaw to marginalisation and oppression by this government. So, my people are not happy. Also, our people in the diaspora have made their position known in very strong terms that things like this were not supposed to happen and that it cannot stand. If there are people from that area behind this, they should go and ensure that it is reversed immediately before they begin to incur the wrath of my people.
What is your next line of action?
I’m still consulting because I came to this place through the people of Ese-Odo and we have traditional rulers, religious leaders, community leaders, militant groups and lots of groups in that place. Since the development, there have been meetings upon meetings and I’m still consulting at very high levels. At the end of my consultation, I will come up with my position on it.
You seem to have been having a rough time in the House since your inauguration, why is that?
I think vibrancy and articulacy are supposed to be characteristics of a good legislator, and without being immodest I think I posses these qualities elements to a very good level. Now, the House is supposed to be an institution that should be standing on its feet. It is an institution that is recognised by law but the leadership has subjected the House to some level of despondency that is not supposed to be. Maybe because I’m a lawyer, that is not acceptable to me; to continue to see the House the way it is running. I’m always against things that will ridicule the House and those who believe in bootlicking and sycophancy cannot enjoy my kind of person in that House. So I think that is one of the issues I’m facing.
What has been the reaction of your colleagues in the Assembly to this matter?
An Irish Philosopher, Edmund Burke, said evil can only thrive when good men decide to keep silent in the time of crisis. This is a time of crisis. So, the good men in the House, who are the minority group, are not happy. I’m very sure they are not happy. Even people from the other group, some of them said this kind of thing is not necessary at this time. There are lots of our rights and privileges that we are supposed to have got that are not given to us. Instead of the leadership to fight for these things, they are busy fighting their members. That is too bad, too poor.
