National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mallam Lanre Issa Onilu has dismissed allegations by the Edo state government of bias against the leadership of the party, saying what transpired in the state House of Assembly was glaring and need no investigation.
Onilu who was reacting to a statement credited to the Special Adviser on Media to Gov. Obaseki that the party should have heard from both sides before taking a stand said there was no dispute between parties, adding that if the issue was a dispute between two parties, then the party would have called for an investigation.
The party had condemned the inauguration of nine members of the state House of Assembly at about 9.30 pm leaving out majority of members, saying such action is a departure from the constitutional provision.
Onilu said: “There is no dispute about the fact that nine people were involved in it. There is no dispute about the fact that what took place, took place at 9.30pm. So what is there to listen to?
“Furthermore, there is no dispute about the fact that the proclamation was not published. The constitution says you should publish and inform all members. So this is not something you need to do an investigation. The facts are staring you in the face. This is not a quarrel between two people. It’s when two people are quarreling about issues that you say let’s investigate. The point is, was the law followed or was it not followed?
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“And there cannot be a fiat accompli in this matter. The processes are regulated by law. We are not talking of an amorphous society or secret cult. Now let me ask you, if a similar thing was done in the National Assembly, would there be the question that since it has been done what needs to happen next? If a foundation is faulty, you can’t roof the building. We must emphasize that processes need to be followed. We are cleaning up our processes. That is what change means to us in APC. Once processes are clean, outcomes don’t matter. Outcomes should reflect the will of the people. I don’t know how inauguration that violated every aspect of the law, tradition, norms, values can stand. If you fail an exam you re-sit.
“There is no dispute about the fact that nine people were involved, some against their will to purport to have inaugurated the Assembly. How is it that an APC governor cannot allow people to vote? You carry people by 9.30pm and purport to have elected a speaker. The danger of that is that if you can do it for Speakership purpose, you can also do it to make law that is unpopular.”
The All Progressives Congress controls all 24 seats in the Edo state House of Assembly but is in dispute over who should be the Speaker, a position zoned to Edo central.
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