Edo 2020: Oshiomhole Does Not Control Police, Obaseki Must Explain Assembly Tussle – Ize-Iyamu

Emmanuel Adigwe

The All Progressives Congress, APC, governorship candidate in Edo State, Osagie Ize-Iyamu on Thursday says former labour leader, Adams Oshiomhole, does not control the police.

Ize-Iyamu stated this while reacting to the heavy presence of armed policemen and other security operatives at the premises of the state House of Assembly.

The Gazelle.News,com had initially reported that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, had accused the federal government of mobilizing security operatives to take over the House of Assembly.

However, Ize-Iyamu, in a statement signed by the Chairman of APC campaign council in the state, John Mayaki, has refuted this claim accusing the Governor Obaseki of disrupting the constitutional independence of the legislative arm of government.

He said: “It is a known fact that the outgoing Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has treated the House of Assembly, an independent and co-equal branch of government, as a mere extension of his office through the brutalization of members-elect and the denial of representation to the majority of members.

“In Gestapo style, the outgoing Governor hijacked a tiny minority and purportedly inaugurated them in the dead of the night. The sham inauguration was condemned and set aside by both arms of the National Assembly after their separate investigations revealed that the members, and indeed the Clerk, were forced to participate in the illegality under threat to life.

“With these criminal antecedents, we believe if there is any unwholesome activity ongoing at the Assembly Complex, it is Mr. Godwin Obaseki who is in the best position to explain to the world what is going on and why.

“Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, or the APC, does not control the Police. When Obaseki went to obtain a questionable court order challenging the position of Comrade as the APC National Chairman months back, he was locked out of the National HQ of the party in Abuja. If indeed he has any control over the Police, wouldn’t he have instructed them to leave and grant him entry?

“The Edo State Government should explain to the world and Edo people what is going on. And they can start by explaining why a branch of government meant to carry out oversight functions and check the excesses of the Executive arm has been holding plenary inside the Government House for months over a supposed ‘fumigation and renovation exercise’ at the Assembly Complex’.”