EDO STATE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY SAGA (A Tale of Two Cities) The crisis rocking the Edo State House of Assembly has taken a predictable twist. Things have fallen apart and the centre can nolonger hold. Nine Strangers (in the words of Kabiru Adjoto) have taken possession of the house while Fifteen sons of the soil are taking refuge in the Government house. The worst is yet to come. The seed of discord planted by the behind the scene manipulators have finally germinated and things are about to get worse exccpt something is urgently done to restore normalcy. These are not happy times for the Comrade Governor and I know he is nolonger taking this macabre dance by these flexing legislators for granted. No one trully wants to preside over a chaotic State. The die is cast. Who will be the first to buckle under pressure. I hope Senator Obanikoro! Yes the dreaded Minister of State for Defence, is not sent to Edo State in this era of resorting to self help to fix things up. However, his presence is not needed, for Adams is still our Governor and we will find a way to sort ourselves out. Though I am about to vent my anger on Governor Oshiomole for his now exposed role in this crisis, I still believe that this ugly episode will pass. Vital political lessons however, are about to be learnt by other States of the Federation and where else can they get such tutorials freely from, if not Edo my beloved State; the heart beat of the nation! I have been praying; I have been writing and like an oracle, I have been warning of dire consequences if this EDHA crisis is allowed to snowball into full scale war. I expecially warned against hardline stand and resort to self help. I thank the vast majority of respondents to my numerous articles whose poitive comments served as strength for my continious agitation for peace, equity, fairness and justice. For those who argued along party sentiments and whose comments in some cases where ourightly irritating and abusive, I must also acknowlege you because I learnt one vital lesson; Edo State is dangerously and sharply divided along party lines. Political meanings are read into anything no matter how geniune ones intension is. Intolerance to opposing views is at all time high and if something is not done by the athourities now by way of proper political education and guildiance, then we may likely witness a very violent 2016 Gubernatorial election. We must begin to learn how to live above party sentiments, think of the character and content of aspiring political office holders and not the political party which in most cases is just a vehicle. I have said it times without numbers that there are no evil political parties. What you have are a few evil poeple in political parties! We must begin to learn as a people to identify the good ones in all the political parties who can be entrusted with public office. We cannot afford a one party state. The consequences will be too grave and I do not subscribe to that. In Edo State today, we have two factions of EDHA members. One faction is holding plenary at the officially designated place; the Anthony Enahoro Complex while the other one has taken refuge at the old House of Assembly complex within the premises of the Governors Office. The Judiciary may soon be asked to define the legality of each plenary sooner rather than later. The Uyi Igbe led faction claimed to have relocated to this new abode because of a laughable renovation work whereby, the Anthony Enahoro complex was almost completely deroofed in the middle of a raining season; a claim that has been rubbished by the Festus Ebeas faction who claimed that the deroofing was done to prevent the house from hold its plenary at the officially designated place. According to him, the complex was renovated in February last year. The problem with telling a lie, is that you require another lie to cover the first lie and on and on it goes until you end up fooling yourself before your admirers. How long are we going to be deceived? It is only a madman that will pull down his roof for replacement in a raining season. The best one can do should you experience leakage is to patch the roof pending when the rains would have subsided for a major replacement. This crisis started the very day the legislators resumed from recess when embattled Speaker Uyi Igbe presided over a house that had ten members in attendance by 8a.m instead of 10a.m and proceeded to place four members on indefinate suspension for gross misconduct. Up till now, nobody except Mr Uyi Igbe and his APC legislators knows the nature of the so called gross misconduct. Ever since then, the once united house was thrown into turmoil. Some persons like my humble self saw beyond this smokescreen and quickly pointed out, that this so called suspended legislators were just being punished with the active encouragement and backing of Governor Adams Aliu Oshiomole for daring to dump the APC for the PDP and not for any half cooked up lies of gross misconduct as alleged. Inspite of the continious denials by the Governor however, events continued to point to the fact that he is the Principal character fuelling this crisis. Retrospectively, one will recall that youths were deceptively lured to Benin city from all over the eighteen Local Government Areas of the State to collect letters of appointment into neigbourhood watch only to be diverted to Ring road for a protest match against the defecting legislators displaying clandestinly prepared flexess the very minute Mr Uyi Igbe and co Started plenary. That was after Governor Oshiomole while addressing the youths accused the legislators of collecting fifty million naira bribe from Abuja to defect to PDP. Official vehicles of the legislators were seized by common street urchins while their families and aides were seriously brutalised and embarrassed. As if that was not enough, a controversial court injunction was procured restraing them from returning back home to the warm embrace of their wives and children. All appeals for calm and peaceful resolution by well meaning Edolites including that of our respected Royal Majesty, the Oba of Benin Kingdom fell on infertile grounds. Yet Governor Adams Oshiomole urged by the encouragement of sycomphants kept on denying his involvement while secretly blowing the seed of discord. I wish he will have the moral courage to deny his involvement now that he has become a willing landlord to Mr Uyi Igbe and his group of lying thugislators. I wish he will also have that same moral courage to deny his involvement when the heavy duty vehicle with Edo State Government House plate number whose tyres was deflated to prevent it from carting away the EDHA properties was shown on Televison last night. I wish he will have the confidence to accept the challenge of one of the embattled legislators who he spuriously accused of collecting a bribe of fifty million, and appear before His Royal Majesty, the Oba of Benin Kingdom to receive prayers or curses should his allegations of finacial inducement against him be true or false! All these pernicious lies and deceit must stop if we are to expect a quick resolution of these crisis. The Uyi Igbe led faction has so mastered the act of lying to the public that even Oba Elect Kabiru Adjoto a fasting moslem, forgot the implication of telling lies in the holy Month of Ramadan. He effortlessly without blinking his eyes, falsely alleged before the viewing public that the bus which conveyed the Ebea led faction to the Anthony Enahoro complex for plenary was loaded with AK47 riffles. Cameras later showed that the bus was empty save for two umbrellas. I am therefore no longer obliged to believe all the bullshits of allegations that has emanated from that faction all this while and in the nearest future. What moral lessons or explanations could Oba Elect Kabiru Adjoto give to his children and wife maybe wives should he be watching the news with them when the eagle eyes of the cameras exposed him not only as a cheap liar in the Holy Month of Ramandan but as a totally irritating trouble maker! Did he ever pause to think for one second, the effect of his exposed lies on his children should they be subjected to tunting and mockery in their schools by their peers? No kid will be proud of a liar as a father! A responsible man must know where to draw the line. Children born in this jet and computer days can be very observant no matter their ages. What was the mission of Mr Uyi Igbe and his men in the EDHA complex which they claimed was undergoing renovation and they willinging abandoned for the Governors Office, if not to forment trouble? How logical was Kabiru Adjotos explanations that they came to observe some minutes or time of togetherness as is required of them before plenary! We didnt see that before the illegal relocation of their plenary to Government House; did we? Like I pointed out before the Judiciary will soon be called upon to define which resolutions of the two factions are legal and binding. If the Uyi Igbes faction relocated because of the Rivers States example, then they will soon have themselves to blame. Unlike the the scenerio playing out in Rivers State, the Nine PDP legislators forms a quorum and any of their plenary especially since it is holding in the officially designated place is valid. Should the courts declare the PDP legislators sitting as proper and legal over the Government house arrangement, the APC legislators risks having their seats declared vacant for abandoning their seats, if they do not find a way to return to the Anthony Enahoros legislative chambers; the hunter then becomes the hunted. There is still a small window of opportunity left to quickly settle this problem. On of such is the National Assembly taking over legislative business of the EDHA. I do not however see this happening as the PDP will likely use its numerical superiority to block such resolutions having taken possession of the Anthony Enahoros complex. Interestily, while the APC legislators enjoys the backing of Osadebey Avenue, the PDP legislators may now have secured the backing of Aso Rock who controls the Nigeria Police who will block (like it happened) yesterday, attempts by Mr Uyi Igbes faction to regain possession and control of the complex. Resorting to the court to evacuate the police will be an exercise in futility as no sane court will grant a restraing order if tapes showing Mr Phillip Shaiubu and Mr Kabiru Adjoto urging thugs and street urchins into the complex as well as that of Mr Uyi Igbe supervising the deroofing of the complex is played before it. The hands of the court may be tied because the police will plead carrying out their constitutional responsibility of protection of Government properties. The effect of resort to selfhelp, arbritrary misuse of power, political intolerance and middlesomeness of Osadebey Avenue in the affairs of the Edo State House of Assembly which I have been warning against may soon rear its ugly head. What moral right does anyone has to ask Aso Rock not to protect their own when Osadebe Avenue will not stop until they bury them? Osadabe Avenue need to accept the basic reality; what happened to Rt Hon Zakawanu Garuba who was illegally edged out can never be allowed to happen again. The plan to rely on the judiciary to perpertually delay or deny these PDP legislators justice untill the end of their tenures which they equally used to frustrate Rt Hon Zakawanu Garuba has also failed. The PDP legislators seem to able to match them wit for wit and skills for skills as former sparing partners and I see danger looming! In order to prevent this, I appeal to all the former Speakers of EDHA to please run down to Edo State and recocile these warring legislators. The APC, as the ruling party, should swallow its pride and extend an olive branch to the PDP in order to achieve the much needed peace. They have everything to lose should things really get nasty. Those clapping and urging them on as events unfolds either hates them or do not understand the intrigues involved in politics. Heavens will not fall should we get to an unplesant end. Do not ask me that end, I have given my advise and I hope somebody is listening!!! God bless my beloved Edo State, the heart beat of the nation.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Jul 2014 07:39:47 +0000
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