Vincent Kalu
The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has said that Edo State governor, Godwin Obaseki, has placed himself above the people of Edo State, whose representatives he so brazenly tramples upon.
The former Lagos State governor, in a statement, entitled, “In Defence of Constitutional Democracy”, emphasised that the recent actions of Gov. Obaseki, represent the gravest possible assault on constitutional democracy, the rule of law and escalation of violence and tension in the state he purports to govern. The APC national leader was reacting to the crisis brewing in the Edo State House of Assembly, which now has parallel principal officers. He pointed out that the Edo governor has placed himself above the nation’s constitutional order.
Tinubu said: “Not satisfied with making a mockery of our constitution by blocking the timely inauguration of two-thirds of the elected members of the Edo State House of Assembly, Governor Obaseki has now resorted to the strong-arm tactics of dictators. First, he sponsored hoodlums to deface, indeed destroy, parts of the House of Assembly Building in Benin, feigning the building is undergoing renovation. Then, he imports sand and gravels to prevent access to the assembly complex. In effect, the man has spent state funds to thwart the very apparatus of the state government he was sworn to uphold. He has squandered public money to defeat the very will of the public. This is tragic beyond words.
“As a pretext for his refusal to allow the Edo House of Assembly to function, Governor Obaseki’s actions are perverse. This is a cowardly act and a move to thwart representative democracy in Edo. No renovation has been planned for the state house building. No appropriation was made in the state’s budget. The only reason any renovation could be deemed necessary is the destruction wrought by his goons.
“Governor Obaseki’s governance of Edo State recalls the worst excesses of our military past and represents a direct threat to the democratic order. By his refusal to permit duly elected members of the Edo State House of Assembly to perform their constitutional duties, Governor Obaseki betrayed contempt for the people of his state and, unfortunately, his ignorance of Nigeria’s constitutional order. As a Governor he ought to know better than to obstruct the functioning of his own legislature, but perhaps he is in need of a quick lesson.”