How I spend my security vote- EDHA Speaker

Speaker, Edo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Adjoto Kabiru  has revealed that the security vote allocation for his office was meant to take care of the security personnel attached to protect him as the number three citizen in the state.
Hon. Adjoto disclosed this at an interactive session with Journalists held at the Nigerian Union of Journalists secretariat in Benin City.

He said the House of Assembly does not receive security vote except the Speaker who is the number three person in the state. “On the issue of security vote, Edo State House of Assembly does not have security vote as an institution and arm of government. It is only Mr. Speaker that has security vote that is why Mr Speaker is the number three in the state.

“And if he is taken away like a chicken on the street, many people will then say did he not have security men around him? “So, I use the security vote to take care of the security men protecting Mr. Speaker  in order for kidnappers and men of the underworld not to steal or whisking away or harming him.

“In the course of  discharging my duty as Mr. Speaker by moving from one community to another, or criss-crossing the country, do you want me to go alone? No. So, some armed security men must go with me. And where do I pay them from? It is from Mr. Speaker security vote.”

Furthermore  Hon. Adjoto noted that being the Speaker of the house was a privilege and not a right and therefore cooperates with other members of the house to make laws that would engender progress for the state.

“As Mr. Speaker, I am not superior to any other members as there are 24 in which I am one of them. Being a Speaker is just a privilege and that does not make me a king over other members.

“I will humble myself, see leadership as a collective enterprise. It is only when I am seeing myself as the man who knows it all, that is when I will fail as Speaker but if I see leadership as collective enterprise, I think that is when all the other 23 members will see me and respect me and to continue to see me as their Speaker.

” I will not be a dictator, I will not take a decision without consultation, I will see myself as servant leader and not superior to any of them.” He said.

Meanwhile, on the issue of political imbalance in the house, Hon.  Emmanuel Agbaje, representing Akoko-Edo Constituency II said the current Speaker of the House has the leadership qualities that will enhance the development of the state and bring about effective legislature in the House.

He said the tribal sentiment while choosing leadership has not done any state good, but tends to sacrifice efficiencies for mediocrity.

“Tribal consideration has always been the problem of development in Nigeria, as far as Edo State is concern, we are one family. When talking about power balancing, nobody is talking about the judiciary. The power balancing should not be limited alone to executive and legislature, we close our eyes to the judiciary.

“EDHA, when we made choice of leadership we did extensive consideration on the choice of whom should be our leader, but what is far more above is the capacity of that leader because at the end of the day we slaughter competence at the altar of power balancing.

“We must ensure this community get this and at the end of the day we end up in a colossal failure, we will give account to the people. Development is our focus. We should begin to downplay the aspect on the basis of power balancing or whatever they may call it. And it will not take us to anywhere. We must jettison those elements that are anti-development.” He affirmed.