Fourteen aggrieved Edo State lawmakers-elect have dragged the Clerk of the House of Assembly Audu Omogbai to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).
In a petition to the CCB, they accused Omogbai of abusing his office by causing their non-inauguration as members of the House of Assembly on June 17, 2019.
The petition was received yesterday by the bureau’s chairman Mohammed Isah, who described the case in Edo State as a political disaster.
A two-term ex-Speaker of the House of Assembly, Victor Edoror, led 10 of the 14 aggrieved lawmakers-elect to deliver the petition.
They said in the petition that they were duly elected, but were deliberately excluded from being inaugurated by Omogbai, who concealed details of the ceremony from them.
The lawmakers-elect accused the Clerk of working with Governor Godwin Obaseki to sustain the crisis in the House of Assembly where only 10 members currently sit.
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They said if their complaints were not promptly addressed, their four-year tenure may expire without their inauguration.
Part of the petition reads: “Our major complaint is that the present impasse at the EDHA was caused deliberately and mischievously by Alhaji Omogbai, the current clerk of the House.
“This is because he violently violated the provisions of Articles 1 and 9 of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers as contained in the 5th Schedule to the 1999 Constitution aforesaid.
“Specifically, Omogbai in gross abuse of his office and powers as the clerk of EDHA, deliberately and mischievously concealed the material information as to the date, venue and time of the inauguration of the 7th session of the EDHA from a majority of the 15 members-elect of the House, whilst he conveyed this vital information to only seven members-elect, who at that material time was perceived to be loyal to the governor of the state.
“This mischievous act of Alhaji Omogbai led to the clandestine and nocturnal ‘inauguration’ of EDHA on June 17, 2019, with only seven out of the 24 members-elect.
“Subsequently, Omogbai, in further abuse of his powers and apparent display of conflict of his personal interest with that of state and national interest, purportedly ‘presided’ over the election of a Speaker and a Deputy-Speaker of EDHA, from amongst the seven minority members present on that day and at his behest.
“It is in the light of the above that we request that Alhaji Omogbai be investigated by your bureau for his gross abuse of his powers and apparent conflict of interest in the discharge of his constitutional duties as the clerk of EDHA.
“We believe that his ignoble and uncharitable actions and inactions as outlined above is the immediate cause of the present crisis at EDHA.
“We believe that as a public officer who swore to obey the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), he ought to have refrained from getting involved in the murky politics orchestrated by the Governor of Edo State at EDHA.
“He failed woefully in his sacred duty to be objective, neutral, and fair to all member-elect of the EDHA at its inception and infancy in 2019. This we believe ought to be investigated by your sacred institution.
“We need not remind you about the provisions of Sections 1 and 9 of the Code of Conduct as revealed above, it is instructive that Alhaji Omogbai also abused his office by concealing the Assets Declaration Confirmation Slips submitted by the 14 of us members-elect, preparatory to our inauguration as members of the EDHA.”
After accepting the petition, the CCB chairman assured that the bureau would be diligent in its investigation.
Isah said, as an umpire, the CCB would accord a fair hearing to all sides and invite all concerned to ensure that justice was done to all parties.
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