Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has been given one week to issue a new proclamation for the constitution of the Edo State House of Assembly.
The order was given by the Senate following the report of its Abdullahi Sabi-led ad-hoc committee which probed the crisis rocking the legislative arm of government in the state.
The Senate said failure of the governor to carry out the order would make it take over the House of Assembly in the state.
It stated that its actions were premised on Section 11 (4) of the 1999 Constitution.
The section, the Senate said, empowered it to take over any legislative house ridden with crisis which appears to be intractable.
Divergent views were expressed on the actions taken on the issue.
Rochas Okorocha (Imo West) said the matter in Edo State House of Assembly should be solved amicably, instead of the Senate rushing to take over.
Sam Egwu (Ebonyi) however viewed the situation in a different way.
According to him, “it is suspect for the governor to have issued a proclamation constituting a parliament by 9 p.m. For me, the governor did a very wrong thing.’’
Speaking on the issue, Senate President Ahmed Lawan said there was nothing wrong in the decision of the Senate.
His words: “The decision is in conformity with the decision of the House of Representatives two weeks ago.
“If the National Assembly can reach out to the president on any matter, I don’t see any reason why same cannot be done in any state when democracy is threatened.
“I thank the National Assembly and the committee for coming to the rescue of democracy again.’’
The Senate resolved to wade into the crisis in Edo State House of Assembly following an order raised by Opeyemi Bamidele (APC, Ekiti) on July 10.
