Obaseki: Failed Edo Assembly Invasion An Attempted Coup D’etat

Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, has described Thursday’s invasion of the state’s House of Assembly by policemen as an attempted coup d’état.

Obaseki said the incident was tantamount to treason and violated the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution.

The governor spoke in a state-wide broadcast, where he assured that his government would take all steps necessary to defend the rule of law and democratic ideals.

He said: “Any person or group of persons who set out to test our will in this regard will meet with the full wrath of the law.”

He added, “These events portend grave danger to the safety and security of our polity. It had all the hallmarks of an attempted coup d’état.

“The people of Edo State rose as one to prevent the desecration of our democracy. It is, however, worrisome that certain persons are willing to plunge the society into avoidable anarchy and conflict just to satisfy their illegitimate objectives.”

The governor recalled that the crisis in the state’s legislature dated back to June 17, 2019, adding that when he proclaimed the 7th Edo State House of Assembly, some members-elect refused to present themselves for the inauguration.

Obaseki noted that a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, had in a judgement delivered on September 12, 2019, held that his proclamation of the House of Assembly was lawful.

He said the court ruled that the National Assembly could not take over the function of the Edo State House of Assembly, as the conditions for doing so do not exist.

“The court judgement affirmed that the Assembly was duly inaugurated and held that the governor or any other person could not issue another proclamation,” he said.

“Even after this judgement, the 14 members-elect stayed away from the House and refused to be inaugurated to perform their elected role of representing their constituencies.

“Having failed to sit for over 180 sitting days, the leadership of the House of Assembly had no option but to declare their seats vacant and requested the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct fresh elections to fill the vacancies that had then been created.”

The governor noted that following the action by the leadership of the House, the 14 members-elect approached a Federal High Court in Abuja to challenge the constitutionality or otherwise of the declaration of their seats vacant.

He alleged that while the suit was still pending in the court, the situation had festered because a former governor of the state was allegedly bent on throwing Edo into crisis ahead of the forthcoming governorship election.

The Edo governor praised the resolve of the people to stand up to thwart what he described as the evil plans of undemocratic elements committed to perpetrating illegal assault on democracy.

“These events portend grave danger to the safety and security of our polity. It had all the hallmarks of an attempted coup d’état,” he insisted.

“It is, however, worrisome that certain persons are willing to plunge the society into avoidable anarchy and conflict just to satisfy their illegitimate objectives. These acts are tantamount to treason, contrary to the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution.”