Edo Assembly divided as Speaker suspends Shaibu’s allies and others

The Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly on Monday suspended three lawmakers over an alleged conspiracy to impeach him and other senior officials of the assembly.

One of the suspended MPs, Donald Okogbe, who represents Akoko-Edo II, is an ally of the accused Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu.

Okogbe, a lawmaker from the Peoples Democratic Party, was the only one who did not sign the petition that led to Shaibu’s ouster.

The other two suspended MPs are Addeh Emankhu Isibor, APC, Esan North-East I; and Iyamu Bright, PDP, Orhionnwon II.

The Speaker also accused the lawmakers of bringing local doctors to the House of Representatives around 1 a.m. on May 1 to make sacrifices.

Agbebaku said the trio were suspended indefinitely, alleging that they were being influenced by external forces to cause chaos and overthrow the leadership of the House of Representatives.

However, the suspension of the MPs led to tension in the House of Representatives as the affected MPs protested against their suspension.

In a raucous meeting, the three suspended MPs shouted: “Mr Speaker, you do not have the right to unilaterally suspend one or more members of the House of Representatives.”

“You have to call for a vote. “Allow the members to vote on the matter!” They shouted.

However, the speaker abruptly adjourned the plenary session.

Speaking on the development, Okogbe described the Speaker’s action as unlawful and unconstitutional, violating his oath of office, the rule of the House of Representatives and the constitution of the country.

He said: “What happened was that the speaker came forward, shouted my name and the other two and said we had been suspended. “He said we had a plan to impeach him and that we were the arrowhead.

“The question then is: If there is an impeachment process that I don’t know about, isn’t it within the members’ right?

“The next question is: Do the members have the reason and the numbers to accuse you? If they have the numbers to impeach you, you are out, and if the members don’t have the numbers, you remain in office.

“At the moment there is no evidence of impeachment, although the power to suspend a member rests with the House of Assembly and not with any individual, including the Speaker.

“The Constitution states that the House of Representatives will make no decision except by resolution, which requires that there be a motion, the motion is seconded, and if the motion is not defeated, the motion is put to a vote and the Speaker cannot vote , unless there is a tie.

“In this case, the Speaker made the motion to suspend, supported the motion and ruled on the motion without giving us a fair hearing.

“By any measure, what the Speaker did is illegal and unconstitutional and violates his oath of office, the rule of the House of Representatives and the Constitution of the country. “To us, it is void, it was done wrong and cannot stand.”

Okogbe said the three suspended MPs met with other members and the majority of MPs did not agree with the suspension.

He said: “We had a meeting with other members and the majority, except one, are against what happened.” They said they would seek out the speaker, speak to him and tell him that what he did was wrong and that he should undo it.

“The truth is that what he did has no legal or procedural basis. In fact, it is against the custom and tradition of Parliament for a single man to believe that his opinion is superior to that of the majority. It is also contrary to the principle of natural justice, equity and good conscience to be the prosecutor and the judge.”

The PUNCH gathered that there was disagreement in the House over whether the Speaker insisted on purchasing a bus for the assembly, while other members said the money should be put into a constituency project.