More drama in Edo as faction impeaches Speaker, APC, PDP lay claim to Assembly

 

Seventeen members of the Edo State House of Assembly loyal to   the immediate past National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomhole, on Thursday impeached the Speaker,  Frank Okiye, and elected Mr Victor Edoror, as his successor.

As early as 7am, there was tension at  the  Assembly complex in Benin City following the heavy presence of security agents.

The crisis came to a head in the afternoon when the roofs of the Assembly were removed by youths, who used heaps of  granites  to block the gate.

In the morning,  hordes of security agents were   at the Assembly  following an alleged plot   to deploy special forces from the headquarters of the Nigeria Police Force in Abuja to take over the legislature.

It was learnt that a team of Special Anti-Robbery Squad allegedly deployed from Abuja had in the early hours of Thursday attempted to dislodge the regular policemen guarding the Assembly Complex.

Some policemen with ‘DRAGON’ tags were seen within the Assembly complex.

This  came less than 24 hours after the Deputy Speaker of the House, Mr Yekini Idiaye, was impeached by seven lawmakers loyal to  Obaseki.

The 24-member Assembly, all APC members, had been operating with only 10 members that were inaugurated into the 8th Assembly after the proclamation by the governor in June 2019.

The other 14 members are still designated as members-elect because they have yet to be inaugurated.

The impeached Deputy Speaker had on Sunday, alongside two others who were among the initial 10, openly declared support for the APC governorship candidate, Osagie Ize-Iyamu.

The Speaker of the House, Mr Frank Okiye, had after the impeachment of the Deputy Speaker on Wednesday, raised the alarm that the Governor of Imo State, Chief Hope Uzodinma, and stakeholders of the APC in Edo State, had concluded plans to import a fake mace to take over the Assembly.

Following the tension at the Assembly on Thursday, hundreds of pro-Obaseki supporters, who are members of the Peoples Democratic Party, stormed the House.

The governor, who was said to have cut short an ongoing campaign of the PDP in Edo North to Benin City, told his supporters at the Assembly that there was no cause for alarm.

He was accompanied to the Assembly complex by the state Deputy Governor, Mr Philip Shaibu.

Okiye who later impeached by pro-Oshiomhole lawmakers, pledged to defend the Assembly.