Edo Assembly New Leadership Burns Its Fingers Doing Gov Okpebholo’s Hatchet Job
By
Ekene Aninze
Edo State House of Assembly is about to make the embattled former Speaker, Hon. Blessing Agbebaku, a hero without even knowing it.
So, Hon. Blessing Agbebaku was asked to resign, and in his place, Hon. Yekini Idaiye was elected Speaker.
Guess the first major move he made.
He tried to pass an Executive Bill aimed at repealing the Edo State Judiciary Financial Autonomy Law (2023) and the Edo State House of Assembly Funds Management Law (2023).
These are the same laws that grant direct fiscal independence to the Judiciary and the Legislature.
Hon. Idaiye didn’t even allow his back to master the Speaker’s seat before embarking on anti-people policies.
But this is where it got interesting.
Members of the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN), fearing that returning control of legislative and judicial funds to the executive would lead to budget cuts, lower salaries, and job losses, shut down the Assembly chambers.
The pressure became too much.
Following the intense public backlash and protests, the Speaker, Hon. Idaiye and the House leadership abandoned the idea of a full repeal. Instead, they settled for an amendment.
Ironically, that single move may have achieved a nice story line for Hon. Blessing Agbebaku.
You have now elevated the former Speaker to the status of a hero.
He can comfortably return home and tell his people that the reason he was removed and suspended was because he stood in defence of the interests of the masses.
Trust politicians to turn every ugly incident into political capital.
EKENE ANINZE IS A LAWYER AND FIRST WROTE THIS ON TWITTER
