The
impeachment of the speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon
Justine Okonoboh, along with his deputy, Mrs. Elizabeth Ativie and the
Majority Leader, Foly Ogedengbe by members of the House last Monday, did
not come as a surprise to many followers of political developments in
the state.
Severally, there had been attempts to
remove Okonoboh as speaker but he survived thus far because of the
interventions of political leaders who wanted the status quo and
political power balancing among the three senatorial districts of the
state to be maintained.
His impeachment has however altered the
power balancing albeit, temporarily for now, as the last word concerning
power play in the Assembly is yet to be heard.
Before now, the top three government
offices were spread among the three senatorial districts, with the South
producing the governor, the Central-speaker and the North
district-deputy governor.
As things stand now, the Central
senatorial district has again be short-changed as it was in May last
year when the House Speaker from the senatorial district, Victor Edoror,
was impeached and replaced with Mrs. Elizabeth Ativie from the South
senatorial district, leaving Central out of the three top government
offices.
It would be recalled that Ativie’s reign
as Speaker, lasted for about two months as she was prevailed upon by the
then Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and other political leaders to
step down for the interest of the Central to be accommodated in the
power equation of the state. This paved the way for the emergence of
Okonoboh as Speaker, while Mrs. Ativie became deputy speaker.
Some of the reasons given for effecting a
change of the leadership of the Assembly last Monday were that Okonoboh
allegedly ran the house as a private entity in conjunction with his
wife and that he co-opted his wife as 25th member of the house, who was
now privileged to know all the operations before the members, just as he
was alleged to have awarded contracts to himself without recourse to
the house standing rules and due process.
Former deputy chief whip of the House,
Kabiru Adjoto, representing Akoko-Edo Constituency 1, who emerged as
Speaker, told journalists that 16 members impeached the three principal
officers and that after the impeachment the numbers rose to 19 members.
He said the impeached principal officers
have been suspended for three months along with Magnus Izehi-Igbas,
(PDP) representing Esan North-East constituency 11, who allegedly
attempted to resist the impeachment exercise. The lawmaker was said have
been beaten by his colleagues for daring to oppose Okonoboh’s
impeachment.
“But we discovered that for selfish
reasons, the ex-Speaker would adjourn the House, possibly, because the
wife is doing a birthday or the son is having a graduation at Covenant
University or the son is going to an NYSC camp (and) he (Okonoboh) wants
to do a party for him. Between June and July, we have worked for just
three weeks; he adjourned the House for more than six weeks.
“Today is August 15 (but) we are just
resuming. Then, the House is expected to adjourn again next week for
another four weeks for the normal holiday. Is that a normal parliament?
All of us came together and said, ‘Enough is enough.’
“The institution is more deserving to be
protected that the interest of an individual. The (ex-Speaker’s) wife,
like I said earlier, has turned herself to the 25th member of the House
of Assembly to the extent that anything we discussed in the executive
session, the wife will hear and start calling our wives to tell them
what was discussed.
“The wife uses the (Speaker’s) convoy as
if she is Mr. Speaker and at random. The other day, the wife and the son
used the convoy to the NYSC camp. When the soldiers and policemen there
saw that it was coming, they all stood, hoping that they would see Mr.
Speaker, only to see the wife and the son to come out of the vehicle.
That is desecration of the parliament”, Adjoto, the new Speaker told
journalists shortly after Okonoboh’s impeachment.
Okonoboh however declined comments on the
matter as his aides and security details led him into a waiting vehicle
that sped off immediately at about 11:56am.
The impeachment exercise has raised the
curiosity of many, as former speaker Victor Edoror, representing Esan
Central constituency became the new deputy speaker and Roland Asoro,
representing Orhionmwon 11, was elected as the majority leader.
Just as allegations have been laid
against Okonoboh, it was Adjoto, then spokesman for the House, who
accused Edoror of greed comparable to that of the red-mouth squirrel’s
voraciousness for palm kernel during his tenure, shortly after he was
impeached as speaker.
For many observers, therefore, the
current leadership arrangement of the House smacks of a hidden agenda,
which the lawmakers seek to use as a tool to exploit and negotiate with
the executive arm and the APC party leadership in the state to secure
some benefits to themselves.
For instance, prior to the impeachment,
it was common knowledge that the lawmakers have been complaining of lack
of patronage from the executive arm of government under Governor Godwin
Obaseki compared to how they faired under the immediate past
administration of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.
Already, Governor Obaseki and the party
executive in the state have waded in by calling for a meeting with the
lawmakers in an attempt to restore the status quo. This may however be a
Herculean task for the parties, as the first meeting was deadlocked on
Monday evening.
“We are talking. As soon as we finish
talking, we will let you know of the outcome. But now we are still
talking”, the state APC chairman, Anselm Ojezua, told journalists.
Nevertheless, there are indications that
the lawmakers may concede speakership position back to the Central
senatorial district, with the new deputy Speaker, Victor Edoror,
bouncing back as Speaker. If that happens, Adjoto, the Speaker, may
become the deputy Speaker.
This scenatio seems probable as the
earlier failed attempts to unseat Okonoboh were alleged to have been
targeted at returning Edoror as speaker.
But for now, Adjoto has taken charge of
the Assembly. On Tuesday he presided over plenary session of the house,
which was attended by 18 lawmakers, even as the people, particularly,
those from the Central senatorial district eagerly await what happens
next.
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