By Obike Ukoh
Ebonyi and Edo Houses of Assembly have been in the news for some time now. The centre could not hold in the two legislatures; resulting in factionalisation and election of two speakers.
In respect of the Edo Assembly, each of the faction is sitting and carrying out legislative functions as enshrined in the constitution.
One faction sits at the Anthony Enahoro Assembly Complex, King’s Square, in Benin, while the other faction sits at the old House of Assembly building, inside the Government House, also in Benin.
The situation is, however, different with regard to the Ebonyi Assembly. The faction of the speaker with 10 lawmakers is sitting at the Assembly complex, Abakaliki, while the other faction with 14 lawmakers is still struggling for legitimacy.
The crisis in Edo House of Assembly was triggered by the suspension of the Deputy Speaker, Festus Ebea, an All Progressives Congress (APC) member representing Esan South East, and three other APC members who defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
They were suspended for alleged misconduct and violation of House rules after they lost the legal battle to stop the House from suspending them.
The four APC members who defected to the PDP teamed up to elect Ebea as acting speaker.
They also suspended the Speaker, Uyi Igbe, and six other APC members for alleged behaviour that brought the integrity of the House to serious disrepute.
However, the activities of the Festus Ebea-faction was in defiance of a Benin High Court order which restrained the suspended lawmakers from forcibly gaining entrance into the Assembly complex as well as the legislative quarters, pending the determination of the substantive suit.
The 15 APC legislators of the Uyi Igbe-faction relocated from the Anthony Enahoro Assembly complex at the King’s Square to the old Assembly chamber inside the Government House due to police restrictions at the complex.
The Edo Police Command, in a statement issued by its public relations officer, DSP Noble Uwoh, said that the police would not allow any faction of the lawmakers to gain entrance into the Assembly complex.
Nevertheless, the PDP lawmakers gained entry into the Assembly complex and had a plenary session, with Festus Ebea presiding.
The lawmakers sat with the mace, the sergeant-at-arms and the clerk where they re-validated the suspension of the eight APC members and formalised the election of the suspended deputy speaker as the acting speaker.
The suspended legislators in their plenary session, presided over by Ebea, passed a resolution calling for the freezing of the House of Assembly’s accounts.
It also directed all commercial banks and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to stop forthwith any transaction with the Uyi Igbe-led APC lawmakers.
The two factions continued to sit separately and performed legislative functions until they adjourned till Sept. 8.
A similar scenario played out on July 21 in Ebonyi as the assemblymen impeached the Speaker, Chief Chukwuma Nwazunku, and replaced him with Mrs Helen Nwaobashi (PDP Abakaliki-South).
Nwazunku’s impeachment was based on allegations of corruption, gross misconduct and incompetence.
Although impeached by his colleagues, Nwazunku insisted that he was still the authentic speaker, describing the impeachment process as illegal.
“Majority of the members are still with me, as they will all answer me whenever I call them.
“The House is on recess and this makes any activity carried out by any members illegal and unconstitutional.
“I went to the House and was satisfied with the measures put up by security agencies to ensure adequate security of the complex,’’ he said.
Nwazunku noted that the House recess was supposed to last for one month, while the impeachment was carried out on the eighth day of the recess.
The impeachment saga drew greater public attention on July 22 at Government House, Abakaliki, as Nwaobashi and Nwazunku separately laid claim to the speakership position.
Gov. Martin Elechi and the PDP leadership intervened in the crisis, as the PDP has 22 members in the 24-member legislature. [eap_ad_1] The governor and PDP declared the impeachment “illegal’’ and reinstated Nwazunku, a development which the Minority Leader, Enyi C. Enyi, described as undue interference and unconstitutional.
“It is unconstitutional for anybody who is not the member of the House to interfere in its internal affairs,” he said.