On Thursday, the APC’s Edo State chapter urged President Muhammadu Buhari to declare a state of emergency in the state due to what it described as a “collapse of governance.”
Governor Godwin Obaseki “has emasculated the judiciary, crippled the legislature, and personalised the executive branch by acting as the sole administrator of Edo State,” where “his word is law; he is the lawmaker, the judge, and the prison put together,” according to the state’s opposition party.
Col David Imuse (retd.), the party’s state chairman, made the call while speaking to journalists at the party’s secretariat in Benin. Obaseki’s “flagrant abuse of power is not provided for anywhere in the 1999 Constitution as amended,” he added.
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Imuse claimed that, despite being elected democratically, the governor was acting as the state’s sole administrator, lamenting that “Edo is the only state in Nigeria today without a functional legislature,” more than a year into his second term. What’s going on with the ten PDP jokers who meet at Governor Obaseki’s office on a regular basis is hilarious.
“What Obaseki is doing today in Edo is breaking a democratic taboo.” When a taboo is allowed to exist for an extended period of time, it develops into a tradition. If this taboo is allowed to be exported to other states, using Obaseki as a model, our democratic culture will be jeopardized. Edo is in grave danger.
“The 1999 Constitution, as amended, makes no provision for Mr Obaseki’s flagrant abuse of power.” Meanwhile, the grundnorm continues to be this constitution, which is still in effect in our country, Nigeria. So, where does Mr Obaseki get his powers from? There is no provision in the Edo constitution for a maximum ruler or sole administrator, as there is in Edo.
“With the governor’s decision not to hold elections for chairmen and councillors, Edo State’s local government administration has been in a coma for almost a year. Isn’t it self-incriminating for a governor who interfered with the state’s local government councils’ statutory allocations on a daily basis to say that he won’t be able to conduct LG elections until the N60 billion debt they owe is cleared?
However, the state Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Andrew Emwanta, said the state chapter of the APC’s call for the state to declare a state of emergency should be directed to the federal government, because Nigerians were being slaughtered and maimed on a daily basis across the country under its rule.
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In a statement, Emwanta said the party’s concerns about governance and development were not only a slap in the face to Edo State residents, but also a sign of selective amnesia.
“Edo State, as of today, is perhaps the most peaceful place to live in the entire country, with incidences of crime and criminality in the state approaching zero over the last three months,” he said, “and the APC dares to call for a state of emergency in the state when it supervises a Federal Government that slaughters and maims Nigerians on a daily basis all across Nigeria.”
“Can’t the Edo APC see that its call for a state of emergency should be directed at the federal government it leads, which has reduced the value of Nigerian lives to almost nothing?”
“You cannot travel by road from Abuja to Kaduna, Abuja to Keffi, or Abuja to Minna without a 70% chance of being attacked, kidnapped, or killed by bandits in Nigeria today, under the leadership of the APC, which their shameless and ragtag executive committee in Edo, who addressed the press conference, represents.” Yet, in the safety of Benin City, thanks to Governor Godwin Obaseki’s excellent leadership, these palace jesters conjure up fictitious chaos.
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“The APC wants a state of emergency declared in a state that not only paid state government employees’ salaries and pensions by the 14th of December, but also released funds to local governments to ensure that their employees were paid salaries in time for the yuletide celebrations, while the APC-led Federal Government struggled to meet its FAAC obligations for the end of the year.”
“Does the party want to declare a state of emergency in a state where every flight or bus arriving in the state is fully booked, with air carriers and road transporters battling to keep up with the influx of tourists?”
