The Chairman, Editorial Board of the Nation Newspapers, Mr Sam Omatseye, has attributed presidential meddlesomeness, stomach infrastructure and cynical politics to the crisis rocking the Edo State House of Assembly.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, Mr Omatseye said “what is going on in Edo State is a throwback to the plague that has now encircled Nigerian politics; that is the plague of presidential meddlesomeness, stomach infrastructure and cynical politics”.
He noted that “the case of Edo is not an isolated matter when it comes to problems between the House of Assembly and the governor” alleging that “we know what happened in Adamawa State. We know the internecine rumble going on in Rivers State and we also know that even in Nasarawa as we speak, there is still a great deal of dissension from the House of Assembly” insisting that “all of this has been linked to Abuja and 2015.
“So we should not kill ourselves when we say it is presidential meddlesomeness because it is presidential meddlesomeness”, he said on Tuesday.
Mr Omatseye also debunked claims that Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, was responsible for the internal problems the All Progressives Congress (APC) has witnessed in the state. He said that those who blamed the Governor of hijacking the party were guilty of ‘terminological inexactitude’ and wondered how a man would hijack what belongs to him.
“When you are the governor of a state, you are the leader of your party; you cannot hijack your party,” he said.
He urged Nigerians to first find out the reason behind the defection of four APC lawmakers to the PDP in Edo “before you talk about why they were suspended.
“These people felt disgruntled and they felt that they have to create an alternative way and that is why I brought about the issue of stomach infrastructure. If I am not going to earn my living the way I want to in this house, let me move to the other house. But I have to create so much tension in the other house so that I can become the man who is legitimate.
“The kind of politics going on in Edo State is the politics of balkanisation”, insisting that “they are too small, too tiny to have that kind of force unless they get back to the centre”, he added.
He, however, noted that “when the governor is astute, like (Rotimi) Amaechi has been, in playing his politics, they keep looking for new ways to try to turn things”.
He added that “politics in Nigeria should be based on values” and argued that “now in Nigeria politics is no longer based on values but the pursuit of resources through the agency of grabbing of power… this is crude politics going on.”
He called on Nigerian political parties to stop accepting politicians who defect from one party to the other, warning that “both parties have become receptacles of anything; what is better now is for the parties to decide and separate the wheat from the chaff”.
Mr Omatseye maintained optimism that the political terrain of Nigeria would improve in the future, noting that “the ideological voice within a political party takes a while to develop over time”.
Edo Assembly Resumes
Members of the Edo State House of Assembly resumed after a 5-week recess, and sat at two different venues on Monday.
Both factions proposed and adopted their business calendars for the new quarter.
Since June, the Edo lawmakers have been holding parallel sittings at the separate venues.
The House was divided after the suspension of three PDP members of the House and the Deputy Speaker, who is a member of the APC. They were accused of gross misconduct.
Three of the suspended lawmakers defected from the APC to the PDP before they were suspended. The lawmakers dismissed the allegations and insisted that they would continue to attend plenaries. They claim that the House did not follow due process in suspending them.
After their suspension,they made an early appearance at the House in an attempt to suspend the substantive Speaker of the House and 15 others.
