By Osaigbovo Iguobaro, Benin
Concerned Civil Society Group in Edo State on Thursday, tasked the feuding parties involved in the State House of Assembly crisis to obey the rule of law.
In a joint statement by Emmanuel Aigbogun and Marxist Kola Edokpayi, declared that the intervention by the National Assembly towards reconciling the members is within the ambit of the law.
Recall that the 7th Assembly was proclaimed on June 17, 2019 by Nine out of the 24 elected APC members of the House, which prompted the National Assembly to set up a fact-finding Ad-hoc Committee to reconcile the parties.
Aigbogun and Edokpayi, said a Supreme court judgment had spelt out how elected members-elect should be inaugurated, adding that any attempt to alter the template, runs foul of democratic tenets, irrespective of tribal sentiments and the beneficiary.
According to the statement, “Section 105 sub-section 3 of the 1999 Constitution as amended saddled the responsibility on the person elected as Governor to issue a letter of proclamation to the Clerk of the House for the inauguration of the State House of Assembly.
“The question here is, was all the members elect aware of the day and time of inauguration?
“The answer is emphatic No. You do not expect the Civil society that is the conscience of the nation to support legislative lawlessness and gambadoism all because of friendliness.
“We stand firm on the path of the rule of Law which is a Constitutional doctrine”, he said.
