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Tag: Uyi Igbe

  • EFCC detains Edo lawmakers over alleged forgery

    Three principal officers of the Edo State House of Assembly have been arrested and detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission over alleged signature forgery.

    The lawmakers are – Speaker Uyi Igbe, Majority Leader, Philip Shaibu and Chief Whip, Folly Ogedengbe.

    They were asked to report in Abuja on Wednesday and were still detained at the time of filling this report.

    The Chairman, Edo Assembly Committee on Information and Sports, Hon. Kabiru Adjoto, said the trio were being detained by the EFCC for allegedly forging the signature of Hon. Abdularazaq Momoh whose seat has since been declared vacant.

    Hon. Momoh, who recently defected to the Peoples Democratic Party was said to be among signatories to the petition that led to the impeachment of former Deputy Speaker, Festus Ebea.

    Adjoto, who spoke at a press briefing, urged the EFCC to investigate serious financial crimes committed under the PDP led Federal government rather that pursue impeachment proceedings.

    He said the detained lawmakers were denied medical attention despite injuries they sustained during last Saturday attack on them by hired hoodlums.

    “Hon. Shaibu was seriously wounded. In fact, three of them were wounded during the attack on us. The Speaker collapsed two times at Abuja. EFCC said they forged the signature of Hon. Razaq Momoh when former deputy speaker, Festus Ebea was impeached.

    “When has EFCC become an agency to investigate forgery of signature? When has forgery of signature becomes a financial crime? Impeachment of either Mr. Speaker of deputy speaker is an internal affair of the assembly. EFCC has no business to do with this. We are surprise that the EFCC can reduce itself to investigating a crime that has already been spelt out.”

    “It is a criminal matter to forge signature. The punishment is as spelt out in the criminal code. The EFCC was not an establishment to investigate forgery of signature. That they have reduced themselves to this is most unfortunate.

    “Information available showed that they are not just acting. Leadership of the PDP is meeting with the EFCC now. We understand that President Goodluck Jonathan has given directives for the Speaker and others to be detained, charged to court and remanded indefinitely,” Adjoto stated.

     

     

  • Only rule of law can stop Edo assembly crisis – Speaker

    The Speaker of Edo State House of Assembly, Hon Uyi Igbe, has declared that only compliance to rule of law could put an end to the ongoing crisis at the assembly.

    The assembly has been under siege of the Nigerian Police since June 9 when four lawmakers of the Peoples Democratic Party were suspended for alleged misconduct.

    Workers of the assembly had also not been at their duty post since last week when armed mobile policemen stormed the assembly premises to stop ongoing renovation work.

    Igbe, who spoke at a press briefing on Wednesday, expressed hope that the police would start enforcing court judgments.

    The Speaker, who ruled out any political solution to the crisis, said the laws must be obeyed

    He bemoaned the daily hardship experienced by the people of the state occasioned by daily blockade of roads at the Oba Ovoramwen Square.

    He called on the police to stop the blockade in the interest of the people and alleged that the PDP and the police had perfected plans to ensure that a state of emergency was declared in Edo State.

    Recalling the genesis of the crisis, Igbe explained that they complied with the ruling delivered by Justice A. M Liman by not declaring seats of the four lawmakers vacant, but suspended them “for an indefinite period for misconduct as provided for under Order 38 of the Rules of the Procedure of the House of Assembly.”

    According to him, “the police in defiance of the court order actively disrupted the renovation work currently going on at the House of Assembly Complex and in the process sprayed tear-gas and/or other noxious chemicals on the Speaker and other members of the House.”

     

  • Edo Speaker: we didn’t meet in governor’s office

    Edo Speaker: we didn’t meet in governor’s office

    •Knocks for Assembly

    Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly Uyi Igbe has refuted reports that the lawmakers carried out plenary in the Governor’s Office.

    In a statement yesterday, Igbe said the reports were part of plans by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to further cause tension in the state.

    The statement reads: “Our attention has been drawn to media reports purporting that the Edo State House of Assembly now sits in the Governor’s Office, following the repair works at the chamber.

    “For the avoidance of doubt, I wish to inform the public that such reports are not only false and mischievous but another phase in what is now clearly a coordinated assault on the legislature in Edo State by desperate anti-democratic forces.

    “Their intention is to cast the legislature in bad light, thereby eroding its integrity in the eyes of the people.

    “As a temporary measure, the Assembly has had to move plenary to the old Chamber in the Government House so that normal proceedings continue, pending the completion of the repair of the chamber vandalised last week by suspended Festus Ebea and his cohorts aided by some policemen.

    “They disobeyed a court order restraining them from the precinct of the Assembly.

    “For those of us with a deep sense of history, sitting inside the old chamber  not only fills us with pride but also inspires a feeling of reunion with our past legislative heroes and heroines.

    “It is on record that this same old chamber was used up till 1999, when the PDP was in the majority in the House.

    “By blocking the Assembly, the evil intention of Ebea and his cohorts is getting clear.

    “But they have failed as the duly constituted Assembly has resumed its plenary and oversight functions.

    “I wish to appeal to the people to remain calm and law-abiding. The just shall be vindicated.”

    The Chief Imam of Al Qudus Central Mosque in Benin City, Alfa Ayouba, has warned that the crisis would cause avoidable unrest, if left unchecked.

    He said the sanctity of the legislature must not be compromised.

    The Executive Director of the African Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), David Ugolor, called on the Inspector General of Police, Abubakar Mohammed, to restructure security network in the state.

    He described the crisis as a pre-presidential election problem.

    Ugolor said: “You know very well that as we are preparing for the presidential election next year we expect this kind of action, especially in areas where the ruling party may probably not win.

    “It not only in the Edo, it is also happening in Rivers and Adamawa states. Everybody wants to show that he is in control.

    The younger brother of the Benin monarch, Prince Edun Akenzua, urged the suspended lawmakers to seek redress in the law court, if their suspension was wrong.

    Akenzua expressed shock that many of the lawmakers, who were lawyers ought to know and obey the law.

    Founder, Afenmai Heritage and Cultural Studies, Prince Usman Abudah, said: “The script being acted out by the Federal Government through the present militarisation by the PDP is inhuman, inexplicably nomadic and humiliating.”

     

  • Policeman threatens to shoot Edo Speaker

    Pandemonium broke out at the Edo State House of Assembly on Friday as a policeman threatened to shoot the Speaker, Uyi Igbe.

    The speaker and other lawmakers were tear gassed by some mobile policemen who stormed the assembly premises in the afternoon.

    The policemen who said they were acting on “orders from above” chased all the workers on duty away and asked some to lie down.

    A policeman threatened to shoot the speaker after the lawmakers resisted the attempt to close down the assembly.

    The policemen were led by one ASP, Florence Joseph, who said she was doing her job and queried why the lawmakers were carrying out renovation work.

    The policemen are currently trapped inside the assembly premises as the lawmakers vowed not to allow them leave.

  • Edo Assembly holds prayer session for abducted girls

    The Edo House of Assembly on Tuesday in Benin held a prayer session for the abducted female students of Government Girls’ Secondary School, Chibok, Borno.

    Mr. Johnson Oghuma, APC Etsako Central, who led the prayer session, prayed fervently for the girls to be rescued safely from the hands of their abductors.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the lawmakers also used the session to pray for the children as they mark the Children’s Day celebration.

    The Speaker, Uyi Igbe, said: “Let us also direct our prayers to other children irrespective of where they are right now.

    “Here in Edo, we have had incidence of children being kidnapped,” Igbe said.

  • 936 teachers seek reinstatement

    936 teachers seek reinstatement

    Some 936 primary and secondary school teachers who were disengaged from the services of the Edo State Government last December have appealed to be reinstated.

    Their names were deleted from the government’s payroll after a staff audit.

    They were found to have falsified their age and presented false documents.

    Governor Adams Oshiomhole said the teachers were not sacked but their salaries were only stopped.

    The affected teachers yesterday marched on the House of Assembly, calling for  lawmakers’ intervention.

    Their spokesperson, Osagiede Omoruyi, said: “We are appealing to the government to please reinstate us because the same exercise was carried out in other ministry and the same problems found there were rectified.”

    “For six months now, our names have been removed from the pay roll. The government should help us we are dying. We are begging. It has been like hell all these months.”

    Speaker Uyi Igbe urged the teachers to forward a petition and state reasons why they should be considered.

    He said: “As soon as you send it to me, I promise you we will work on it.

    “We will deliberate on it. If you were unduly and unnecessarily disengaged, we will ensure your reinstatement.”

  • PDP lawmaker defects to APC

    PDP lawmaker defects to APC

    A Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmaker in the Edo State House of Assembly has joined the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    With this, the PDP now has four members in the Assembly.

    Victor Edoror ,who represents Esan Central Constituency, expressed reservations about how the PDP treated him when he was abducted last year.

    The lawmaker said his defection was based on the developmental strides of the Adams Oshiomhole-led administration.

    In a letter addressed to the Speaker, Uyi Igbe, Edoror said no member of his former party called to inqire about his welfare and find out what transpired when he was kidnapped.

    The letter titled: “Notice of defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC)” reads: “I write to formally notify you of my decision to defect from the PDP to APC.

    “Mr. Speaker sir, and my most respected colleagues, I have ceased to be a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and I am now a member of the All Progressive Congress (APC),” he said.