Edo crisis: Reps give Gov. Obaseki seven-day ultimatum, threaten take over of Assembly
The House of Representatives has asked the Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, to issue a fresh proclamation to convene the 9th House of Assembly in the state. The House issued a seven-day ultimatum to the governor to carry out the order or risk the House taking over the Assembly.
The House had set up an ad hoc committee headed by the AbdulRasak Namdas to investigate issues surrounding the crisis rocking the assembly. The report of the committee was submitted Wednesday and it was adopted by the committee of the whole chaired by Ahmed Wase. Speaking to the report, Namdas disclosed that the Governor of the state issued the proclamation two days after the House had already been sworn in. The House therefore resolved as follow: “That the Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, in the interest of peaceful coexistence of the State, should issue a fresh Proclamation within One (1) week in line with Section 105(3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of. Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) stating the date, time and venue and publish in any National Daily and Television Station, That all actions taken by the 9th Assembly Members should be declared null and void pending proper inauguration; That all Members of the Edo State House of Assembly, both those who have been , inaugurated and those who have not been inaugurated should dissolve their factions in the interest of peace and stability of the House with the view to moving the State forward, That the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the Director General (DG), Department of State Services should shut down the Edo State House of Assembly and provide adequate security to allay further fears of intimidation and threat as alleged by Members-elect, That where recommendations (1) (ii) and (tit) above fail, the National Assembly should invoke the Provisions of Section 11(4) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) to take over the State House of Assembly until the situation normalizes. The decision of the committee of the whole was subsequently adopted by the House.