Edo House of Assembly Crisis Consumes Speaker, Deputy and Majority Leader

The crisis rocking Edo State House of Assembly for about two months reached its peak as the speaker, Rt. Hon. Justine Okonoboh, his deputy speaker, Rt. Hon. Elizabeth Ativie and the majority leader, Hon. Folly Ogedengbe were impeached on Monday.

With this development, the 386 days immunity of being speaker of the
House enjoyed by Hon. Okonoboh has virtually come to an abrupt end as
he hereby becomes a floor member while the House hereby elected Hon.
Kabir Adjoto (APC) representing Akoko-Edo Constituency I as the
substantive speaker of the House.
In the same vein, former speaker, Hon. Victor Edoror from Esan Central
Constituency emerged as the new deputy speaker exactly 386 days after
he was relegated from the exalted position of speaker to floor member
just as Hon. Roland Asoro, representing Orhionmwon Constituency II
became the majority leader.
Meanwhile, Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki and the state leadership
of the All Progressives Congress (APC) meeting held at the party
secretariat on Monday failed to settle the lingering crisis rocking
the leadership of the House over the impeachment of the speaker,
deputy speaker and the majority leader.
The governor and his deputy, Rt. Hon. Philip Shaibu who presided over
the meeting that lasted for over three hours with the party state
executive members at the secretariat in Benin-City declined interview
with the journalists after the meeting. But the state chairman of the
party, Anselm Ojezua who spoke to journalists said the party has
started discussion with the members with a view to settle their
differences.
According to information emanated from the House, Hon. Okonoboh
impeachment was based on series of allegations ranges from unilateral
running of the Assembly as his private entity with his wife, high
hardness and illegal award of contracts among others.
Okonoboh fate was pegged as 16 members out of 24 signed the
impeachment notice while three other members were said to have
appended their signatures after the impeachment to increase the number
to 19.
Similarly, the new speaker, Adjoto Kabiru and the impeached embattled
speaker, Justin Okonoboh refused to talk to newsmen, but at the
meeting the new speaker, Adjoto Kabiru was heard shouting loudly that
he would not relinquished the position of speakership as one of the
conditions to settle the impasse.
Prior to the state executive meeting, Hon. Adjoto who addressed
journalists shortly after he was elected speaker said “The embattled
three principals were impeached as a result of incompetence,
treachery, gross misconduct, greed and monumental fraud. The three
principals officer and Magnus Izehi Igbas (PDP) representing Esan
North-East II were suspended for three months to give room for proper
investigations into their unwholesome activities.”
Furthermore, he accused the impeached speaker of running the affairs
of the house as a private entity in conjunction with his wife.”The
impeached speaker converted the house to a private estate. We are
supposed to be 24 members in the house but he now co-opted his wife as
25 members who was now privilege to know all the operations before the
members. He also awarded contracts to himself without recourse to the
house standing rules and due process. We were elected to be a partner
in Edo State project with the Governor of the State, a performing
governor.”
In another view, the embattled majority leader, Folly Ogedengbe
described the action as null, void and unconstitutional. Adding that
they were allegedly impeached by only eleven members a violation of
two third majority. “It is only 16 members that have the
constitutional mandate to impeach the principal officers but those
that carried out this act does not met up with the two third majority
as prescribed by the law especially the house rules.”