Edo Assembly
Godwin Obaseki
…Tasks Obaseki to inaugurate Assembly
By Dirisu Yakubu
Former Senior Special Assistant, SSA, to the then governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole on Entertainment, Honourable Roland Igbadumhe has decried what he called the non-representation of 14 constituencies of the state in the State House of Assembly for nearly a year; saying as a result, the affected constituencies have been deprived of voices in the COVID-19 narratives.
Igbadumhe who spoke exclusively with our correspondent yesterday said 14 lawmakers-elect who staged a walkout last year following the controversial inauguration of nine members by Governor Godwin Obaseki, have not been able to avail the constituencies their input as a result.
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He noted that at a time elected officeholders were doing everything to mitigate the spread of the Coronavirus and sensitising their people on preventive measures; the affected constituencies were left with no one to look up to as their representatives “have not been allowed to do the job for which they were elected.”
According to Igbadumhe, “It is painful that today, the people who elected their representatives are left in the dark as to what to do in this COVID-19 era. Apart from palliatives far from what they ought to be, they don’t have anyone to speak for them. Edo state is probably the only state where this primitive demonstration of power is happening today but how long can we continue like this?
“For close to a year now, Crosby Eribo (Egor),
Okaka Eric (Owan East), Said Oshiomhole (Etsako West II), Christopher Okaeben (Oredo West), Dumez Ugiagbe (Ovia North East 1),
Ahmed Waziri (Etsako Central), Michael Ohio Ezomoh (Owan West), Audu Abdulganiyu (Etsako West I), Sunday Aghedo (Ovia South West), Washington Osifo (Uhunmwonde) Vincent Uwadiea (Ovia North East II), Uyi Ekhesuehi, (Oredo East), Ughabi Kingsley (Etsako East) and Edoro Victor Sabo (Esan Central) constituencies have not participated in the activities of the Assembly. The impact of this is better left to the imagination.”
Igbadumhe who has been consistent in the call for good governance in Edo state in the past few years therefore called on Governor Obaseki to heed good counsel by inaugurating an Assembly that would give all and sundry a sense of belonging.
“Two representatives from Oredo where Governor comes from are among these 14 we are talking about today. It is wrong to allow this abnormality to continue and if we pride ourselves as the ‘Heartbeat of Nigeria,’ this is the time to prove it.
“I have always maintained that the governed must not be looked down upon. One way of showing them respect is to accord their representatives the liberty to function in their constitutionally assigned role. Our governor should do the needful now. He should waste no further time because there is no better time than now for the people to bond with their representatives,” he added.
It would recalled that Obaseki inaugurated a nine-member Assembly nine months ago with loyalists of former governor, Adams Oshiomhole kept out in what was to signal the beginning of hostilities between the two chieftains of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
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