From Onazena Abbey, Benin
An air of uncertainty is currently hovering over Edo State, following the expiration of the deadline issued on Governor Godwin Obaseki by the leadership of the National Assembly to re-inaugurate the state House of Assembly.
The state Assembly crisis, which appeared to have defied round table talks has gone beyond the walls of the highly revered Benin monarch, who has decided to handover the protracted feud between the godfather, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, and his godson, Governor Obaseki, to the ancestors.
The crisis erupted on June 17, following the inauguration of nine out of the 24-member house, all of them members of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
The leadership of the National Assembly decided to intervene by sending delegations to the state on fact finding missions.
The House of Representatives, after considering the report submitted by its Committee, urged Governor Obaseki to re-issue proclamation letter to the House of Assembly within a period of five days. The Reps threatened to take over the functions of the state Assembly in line with the provision of its constitutional powers if the governor fails to accede to the request.
Parliamentary business has since resumed in the hallowed chambers of the state Assembly under the leadership of the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Frank Okiye.
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As mixed reactions continue to trail the constitutionality and otherwise of the National Assembly declaration, Governor Obaseki and the leadership of the state Assembly vowed to resist any move to truncate the functions of the lawmakers.
Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Osarodion Ogie, who expressed disappointment at what he called gross illegality and abuse of process by the House of Representatives, said the matter at stake was currently pending before a court of competent jurisdiction.
“Suffice it to say, however, that there is nowhere in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, where the House of Representatives or even the National Assembly for that matter, is granted the right or power to shut down a state House of Assembly, in point of fact such power is expressly excluded by the constitution.
“Both sides of this dispute are currently before the court and we are shocked that the House of Representatives could allow itself to be made to act in breach of its own rules, which forbid it from entertaining or making pronouncements on matters before courts,” Ogie said.
However, contrary to the position of the state government on the flagrant disregard to the restraining court order, Senator Aliu Abdullah, chairman of the seven-man Senate Committee on facts finding mission, who equally visited the state, said their mission was never in conflict with court order but purely on matter of national security and public peace in tandem with the provision of the constitution.
“We are parliamentarians (and) nobody has served us any restraining order. If a restraining order is coming after we have already kick-start our responsibility, how can that stop us? We are not looking into what is in court; we are getting facts from Section 11(4 and 5), which is very clear on what we should do.
“Our interest is to ensure we restore sanity; we will restore stability in Edo State so that all the people, who are constitutionally mandated to serve the good people of Edo State will be doing so,” he said.
On his part, Okiye said it would be out of place for anyone to think of shutting down legally constituted Assembly currently discharging its constitutional functions, including oversights obligation.
He said the House is equally reaching out to the yet to be sworn-in members-elect on the need to come together, as colleagues to move the state forward.
“We will definitely resist any such move by anybody to shut down the Assembly. The National Assembly must take note that they are expected to act as agents of peace and not merchants of crisis. Edo State has always been peaceful and any attempt for them to carry out this order will certainly disrupt the peace that is currently being enjoyed in the state,” Okiye said.
Governor Obaseki appeared resolute on not shifting ground in the current battle of supremacy with his political godfather, daring the consequences. He seems to derive strength on the sole belief that Edo people will determine his fate come 2020.
The governor is standing firmly on the fact that before the House of Assembly was proclaimed, consultations were held with various segments of the political class.
He said: “I issued a proclamation. Consultations were held before the proclamation was issued. Various party organs met before decisions were reached. As far as I am concerned, I abide by the Constitution and issued a proclamation. I believe in separation of powers.
“Whatever the outcome, we expected that if a higher authority were concerned about the fate of this state, they would have called to see how to resolve the issue but that wasn’t done. The matter has moved to court and all parties are in court. I have done by own beat. Within the legislature, there are issues and they have gone to the judiciary and the constitution provides for clear separation of powers.”
A prominent member of the pro-Oshiomhole group, Edo Peoples Movement, EPM, Mr. Samson Osagie, who was a former member of the House of Representatives, attributed the escalated crisis in the state to gross ego and incapacity of Governor Obaseki to strike a balance between governance, legality and politics.
He berated those aggravating the Assembly crisis on deceptive premises of section 102 of the constitution that the Assembly as presently constituted enjoys legitimacy, has a quorum to embark on legislative business on grounds that those members who have not be sworn in are merely absent and whose absence cannot invalidate the proceedings of the Assembly.
He posited that rather than section 91, Section 11(4) of the constitution is applicable to the Edo situation, having stipulated that the state Assembly membership should not be less than 24 and not exceed 40.
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“I submit that in Edo State today, there is no legislative House of Assembly properly so called that can legitimately exercise legislative powers for and on behalf of Edo people, particularly the 24 constituencies that make up the state.
“Constitutionally, the act of non-compliance with the required numbers of a state House of Assembly is void and all its acts and actions emanating henceforth are nullity. You cannot have a quorum of a state Assembly whose membership falls below constitutional requirement,” he said.
Meanwhile, some members of Edo Civil Society Group, Butchers Association and Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria, RTEAN, have vowed to resist the alleged plan by the National Assembly to shut down the state legislative arm with the last drop of their blood.
State Chairman, National Association of Butchers, Comrade Odigie Akhere said: “We are ready to die for Obaseki. Before now, you cannot walk freely in the street without being molested by Agbero but Obaseki brought sanity to the system. We will defend the interest of Edo State and the elected Speaker.”
State Chairman, Conference of Nigeria Political Parties, CNPP, Roy Orebhabor, who described the state Assembly member-elects currently residing in Abuja as interlopers said Governor Obaseki must be allowed to complete his two years tenure of 8 years.
Worried by the wave of tension pervading the state, political analysts have cautioned the warring groups on the urgent need to fall back on roundtable dialogue, warning that the party as it stands now, risk the possibility of losing the only state it controlled in the South-South come 2020.