The die is cast. Tomorrow is
the D-Day in Benin, the Edo State capital, as members of the state House of
Assembly are set for a showdown with one another, in a battle that may shake
the state to its foundation, if not hurriedly nipped in the bud.
If threats coming from opposing camps within the ranks of the lawmakers are anything to go by, then there is indeed cause for concern.
The two factional speakers, yesterday, threw caution to the wind, threatening fire and brimstone, while laying claim to the speakership of the hallowed chamber.
The factional Speaker of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Hon. Festus Ebea, accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) Speaker, Uyi Igbe-led faction of planning to cripple legislative proceedings, while vowing to lead his group for a plenary session tomorrow.
He alleged that his colleagues from the APC had decided not to hold plenary sessions at the Anthony Enahoro Complex, King’s Square any longer, but to continue sitting in the Government House.
Ebea, who was reacting to an earlier incident on Friday, in which the APC caucus allegedly contracted some people to de-roof the assembly complex, said it was an orchestrated plan, as well as a secret attempt to empty the building of all effects.
But in a swift reaction, Igbe dared the PDP lawmakers to hold their proposed plenary session, just as he threatened to stop the group from sitting.
“We are telling them it is not possible for them to attempt to sit. We will rise against it and defend ourselves without our security. Our blood will spill on this matter because we know we are right. They have threatened to kill me and Monday will be the right time,” he stated.
The Edo State Police Command, had on Friday evening, arrested some people and impounded a 911 Mercedes Benz trailer and several Toyota Hilux pick-up vehicles, which were found to have gained illegal entrance into the premises of the Assembly.
The occupants of the vehicles, bearing the official EDSG green registration number plates, were said to be acting on the orders of the APC Speaker, Igbe, who had allegedly supplied keys to the building.
The suspects, according to information obtained from police sources, said they were asked to evacuate different equipments and official materials, including computers, office files, fans and chairs, to a location at Government House.
Earlier on Friday, Ebea had described the attempted removal of roofing sheets as ‘executive brigandage’, warning of dire consequences.
“The roof they are removing was done last year and we don’t have it in our budget for 2014. I am the chairman of the Tender’s Board, nobody ever reached me that we were doing renovation work.
“You must know that this is brigandage, outright burglary and waste of taxpayers’ money. We are calling on every citizen of Edo State to know that all these things are being done to prevent us from having a sitting on Monday.
“We were on vacation two to three weeks before we came back on the 9th (June), but no repair was done during that time. Very soon, we will be going on break again. Why don’t you wait till that time? Why now? These are the issues.
“You must ask them where they got the money they are using now from, because we know it is not their personal money. We are calling on whoever awarded the contract to fix this place. This is not the wish of Edo people, and we condemn it,” he said.
Ebea also vowed that there was no going back on plans to hold plenary at the embattled Assembly building tomorrow.
“We are not part of the Oshiomhole-led legislature. We are independent of the executive, and there is no going back on our plans to sit on Monday.”
Igbe, however, defended the action of the APC group, saying that the artisans were only there to renovate the complex.
If threats coming from opposing camps within the ranks of the lawmakers are anything to go by, then there is indeed cause for concern.
The two factional speakers, yesterday, threw caution to the wind, threatening fire and brimstone, while laying claim to the speakership of the hallowed chamber.
The factional Speaker of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Hon. Festus Ebea, accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) Speaker, Uyi Igbe-led faction of planning to cripple legislative proceedings, while vowing to lead his group for a plenary session tomorrow.
He alleged that his colleagues from the APC had decided not to hold plenary sessions at the Anthony Enahoro Complex, King’s Square any longer, but to continue sitting in the Government House.
Ebea, who was reacting to an earlier incident on Friday, in which the APC caucus allegedly contracted some people to de-roof the assembly complex, said it was an orchestrated plan, as well as a secret attempt to empty the building of all effects.
But in a swift reaction, Igbe dared the PDP lawmakers to hold their proposed plenary session, just as he threatened to stop the group from sitting.
“We are telling them it is not possible for them to attempt to sit. We will rise against it and defend ourselves without our security. Our blood will spill on this matter because we know we are right. They have threatened to kill me and Monday will be the right time,” he stated.
The Edo State Police Command, had on Friday evening, arrested some people and impounded a 911 Mercedes Benz trailer and several Toyota Hilux pick-up vehicles, which were found to have gained illegal entrance into the premises of the Assembly.
The occupants of the vehicles, bearing the official EDSG green registration number plates, were said to be acting on the orders of the APC Speaker, Igbe, who had allegedly supplied keys to the building.
The suspects, according to information obtained from police sources, said they were asked to evacuate different equipments and official materials, including computers, office files, fans and chairs, to a location at Government House.
Earlier on Friday, Ebea had described the attempted removal of roofing sheets as ‘executive brigandage’, warning of dire consequences.
“The roof they are removing was done last year and we don’t have it in our budget for 2014. I am the chairman of the Tender’s Board, nobody ever reached me that we were doing renovation work.
“You must know that this is brigandage, outright burglary and waste of taxpayers’ money. We are calling on every citizen of Edo State to know that all these things are being done to prevent us from having a sitting on Monday.
“We were on vacation two to three weeks before we came back on the 9th (June), but no repair was done during that time. Very soon, we will be going on break again. Why don’t you wait till that time? Why now? These are the issues.
“You must ask them where they got the money they are using now from, because we know it is not their personal money. We are calling on whoever awarded the contract to fix this place. This is not the wish of Edo people, and we condemn it,” he said.
Ebea also vowed that there was no going back on plans to hold plenary at the embattled Assembly building tomorrow.
“We are not part of the Oshiomhole-led legislature. We are independent of the executive, and there is no going back on our plans to sit on Monday.”
Igbe, however, defended the action of the APC group, saying that the artisans were only there to renovate the complex.