14 Edo Assembly Members Still In Limbo, Two Years After Elections

Two years and still counting, the dispute surrounding the suspension of 14 members of the Edo State House of Assembly remains unresolved.

Speaking during a press conference on Monday in Abuja, the affected members appealed to the judiciary to expedite action on the matter and prevent what they term as an arrest of democracy.

A former Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Victor Edoror, who is also affected by the impasse, called on the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, the Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Tanko Mohammed and the National Judicial Council to save the situation.

“What I understand as a senior member of the legislative arm at the state level by the inauguration, it is arranged in a way that the governor has to do a proclamation. If you check the dictionary meaning of proclamation, it is simply a public announcement.

“This wasn’t done, we cried after waiting. The last assembly ended on June 7, 2019. We waited till June 17 when every house of assembly in Nigeria has been inaugurated; we discovered that ours was the only one remaining.

“We did a press conference on the 17^th telling the well-meaning Edo people and Nigerians to help tell the governor to do his constitutional right by proclaiming the house. We went to the judiciary and because it is a state-bound matter, it is in the State High Court.

“Up till now, for these two years and seven months, it is sad and shocking to hear that this matter has never been heard. It is one movement from one judge to another, this is the eighth judge.”