BY VICTOR BUORO, ABUJA – The Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures in Nigeria, has described the recent siege on the Edo State House of Assembly by men allegedly sponsored by Governor Godwin Obaseki as sheer recklessness and a proof of dictatorship for a governor who is supposed to be the head of the executive arm of government to decide to take charge of another arm through questionable means.
The Conference while condemning the brazen act, said that the development clearly exposed the Obaseki-led Government as autocratic and dictatorial, stressing that whatever defence the state government has for the action does not ‘hold any water’.
Chairman of the Conference, Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, who stated the position of the Speakers, specifically said that the removal of the roofs of the Edo Assembly is an injury to Nigeria’s democracy and must be condemned by all well-meaning Nigerians.
The conference described the brazen manner the Obaseki’s alleged sponsored political thugs took over the Assembly, removed the roof and broke the symbolic mace, which were all captured in a recorded video, as sheer recklessness.
The statement of the Speakers which was signed by Obasa, who is the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, wondered how the idea of renovating the Assembly suddenly came up just weeks to the governorship election in the state and in such manner creating a mockery of the electioneering process and democracy.
The Conference of Speakers further said; “There were reports linking the removal of the roof and the offloading of gravel at the complex to purported plans by the government to renovate the Assembly but we think this is an afterthought.
“Why is the government just realising the need renovate the complex at the twilight of the administration?
“What happens to the building if the governor does not return? What happens if the next administration does not take that direction?” the Speakers asked.
The Speakers also questioned the role played by the Commissioner of Police in the state in the entire drama by allowing himself to be used as a tool to perpetrate an attack on democracy in the way the drama panned out at the Assembly complex in the state.
The Speakers therefore warned the governor and those participating in the electoral process in the state to desist from doing anything that would affect the smooth running of the Edo House of Assembly.
The Conference reminded Obaseki that the removal of the Assembly roof does not stop the lawmakers from sitting, saying that the constitution of the country does not limit plenaries to the hallowed chamber alone.
