Edo House debunks allegations of antagonism against govt

By Simon Ebegbulem
BENIN—SPEAKER of Edo State House of Assembly, Mr Zakawanu Garuba, said weekend that Governor Adams Oshomhole’s administration is enjoying a more friendly House than the Peoples Democratic Party’s government in the state did in the last ten years.

According to him,  the allegation that the House has been antagonistic to the executive arm is an attempt to destroy the House and PDP in the state.

The Speaker, who was responding to the call by two-time Governor of old Bendel state, Dr Samuel Ogbemudia, that the lawmakers should give the governor a “friendly House” in 2010, told newsmen during the Sallah celebration at his country home at Auchi, that the House had, in its oversight functions, been misconstrued to be confrontational to the government.

He said  it would be taking partisan politics too far for people to continue to insinuate that the House had failed to give the governor the desired support.

His words:  “I will always maintain today that the executive that has enjoyed the highest support of the legislature is the Adams Oshiomhole-led executive.

“I was in the House during Lucky Igbinedion’s era and I knew what the House was then. I was the Speaker under Osunbor; I knew how constructive we were on Osunbor; we have not even reached that point.

“We are going to the end of a financial year. You keep referring to a disagreement in the budget which was at the beginning of a tenure and, like I have said, if we were actually confrontational, if only to make a point that we were partisan, when the governor was presenting the budget in February, I would have told him ‘no, you can no longer present a budget because the constitution says the budget must be presented before the end of the preceding year.’

“When the governor presented a list of 16 special advisers, those 16 were approved for him, all the bills brought by the governor, we have never defeated any of them, we have passed all his bills into law. We confirmed his commissioners for him, we have confirmed every other board except UBE for which there is an order of court restraining us from confirming it.

“So I maintain that there is no such rancorous relationship between us. It is self-induced; it is done to purposely destroy the House and destroy the PDP.”