The business of parliament should be transparent not like a secret cult – Oshiomhole protests Edo assembly saga

The national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Adam Oshiomhole has described as “embarrassing” the manner in which principal members of the Edo state House of Assembly were selected.

According to the former Governor of the state, the activities of parliament should be transparent and not be done like those of a secret cult.

The APC national chairman while speaking with state house correspondents during the weekend faulted the Godwin Obaseki, governor of Edo state, for not following the examples of President Muhammadu Buhari.

He however did not mention. Any names but it could be deciphered from his words that he blames the governor for allowing the constitution to be violated under his watch, with regards to the inauguration of nine members of the Edo house of assembly.

“How can I be a governor physically presiding over people who are more endowed than me? But with the law on my side, people take a bow because the law protects me,” he said.

“So it’s about rule of law. You know the law provides for how the house should be proclaimed transparently the day it’s announced. Members-elect are informed of date and time for inauguration. These are clearly spelt out in the Nigerian constitution.

“President Buhari did it transparently. He has led us by example. For me, it’s very embarrassing if any state governor, particularly of APC extraction, will do anything that is less than what the constitution says and the example that our president has set.

“So, you know that what happened in Edo was that they did not publicize a proclamation letter; the members were not informed, they did the inauguration at 9:30pm in what in a Supreme Court judgement call nocturnal hours.

“Business of parliament is done transparently; they are not secret cult. Now, you have a 24-member House: 19 members protested. You have six and you carry people in their short knickers. Even in the House, they have rules, the dress code. So, it happened in Edo, it has happened in Bauchi.”

Oshiomhole, who influenced the emergence of the governor, wrote off insinuations that he was the godfather of Edo politics.

“I am a democrat. That I accept the credit, not only that I fought godfatherism, I launched the one man, one vote campaign to fight against election rigging anywhere in Nigeria and by the special grace of God under PDP with Anenih alive, and at his best, I won all the 18 local government areas and I won 95 percent of the total votes cast in my second term election,” he said.

“So, Edo people know me and I know them. I don’t need shortcut to sustain my position in the system. But you know that there is nobody in Nigeria who is not open to accusations. The important thing is that he who accuses should give you evidence.”

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