By Lucky Isibor,
The Speaker of Edo State House of Assembly, Hon. Frank Okiye has absolved Governor Godwin Obaseki of any blame in the crisis rocking the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
The speaker also noted that it was wrong for anyone to attribute the crisis to the Governor’s handling of the state Assembly proclamation.
Okiye stated this on Wednesday, January 29 while addressing news men at the House of Assembly on the crisis rocking the party in the state.
The Speaker was reacting to the claim by a former Secretary to Edo State Government, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu that Governor Obaseki’s mishandling of the Assembly proclamation caused the crisis.
While pointing out that the crisis predated the issuance of the proclamation for the Assembly inauguration by Governor Obaseki, Okiye noted that all the elected members of the State House of Assembly were unaware that interests were appropriated even during the electioneering campaigns.
According to him, “the debilitating controversy that has engulfed the polity, and in particular the Edo State APC, actually predated the proclamation by Mr. Governor, which convened the inaugural sitting of the current legislative session. If not, our brothers who are today victims of power control quest, would not have waited for an alternative proclamation or signal from another quarter after the office that is duly and constitutionally saddled has done so. It was a wrong move.
“Recall that almost all the actors in the crisis has alluded differently to this same fact, that there were issues before the elections. Secondly, the primary elections that produced the House of Assembly candidates were severally threatened by inordinate interest. It was however the grace of God that stopped this desperate permutation from sliding into a monumental crisis.
“We the elected members of the House were almost unaware that interests had been appropriated why we yet laboured. Therefore, members became divided, once the actors had taken positions.”
While berating Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu for claiming that Governor Obaseki’s mishandling of the Assembly proclamation caused the crisis, Okiye pointed out that the crisis was orchestrated by some political wheeler dealers to distract the Governor from the good work he’s doing in the state.
“The claim by by a former Secretary to the State Government, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu that Gov. Obaseki’s mishandling of the Assembly proclamation caused the crisis, is not only self serving, it is an evidence of political dementia suffered by someone wallowing in utter ignorance but desperately seeking a momentary popularity. No one can in his true sense accuse the Governor of inducing the crisis. It is however painful that some persons are still using this avoidable controversy to distract him from his good work.”
The Speaker also reiterated why the House declared the seats of some members-elect vacant noting that their failure to take their oath of office and attend plenaries was a disservice to the people of their constituencies.
“The failure of the erstwhile lawmakers-elect to take their oath, meet the constitutional limit of participating in our proceedings and most painfully, their unforgivable absence during Appropriation Bill debate, marked the turning point that led to the legally instructive decision to declare their constituency seats vacant.”
