‘Absentee-members don’t bother us’

Bright Ehi Omokhodion, Speaker, Edo State House of Assembly

— Bright Ehi Omokhodion, Speaker, Edo State House of Assembly
By Walid Ogunseri, Benin City
Since you came in as Speaker of the Edo state House of Assembly, discord has been the order of the day, sort of one sided House, with virtually no opposition. What is the constitutional implication and will the situation not affect the business of lawmaking in the House?
The implication is mitigated by the fact that a quorum can be formed. If we are not able to form a quorum, then we can tell you there is crisis in the House. The present House – even though the PDP members seem to have boycotted sitting, since February 24 – has been sitting because what it requires for a quorum is a minimum of eight members; once you have eight members you can sit. In all, thank God we have more than eight members, we are 14 and the fact that everybody is from the same party has no implication at all.
There are some assemblies in this country where all members are of the same party. Time was when every member of the Edo State House of Assembly belonged to one political party, the PDP. That did not avert crisis, it did not create a non-cantankerous relationship with the executive. It did not in anyway lead to rubber-stamping of executive bills or executive decisions. So they even had crisis then when there was no opposition, and I can tell that since the emergence of this new leadership of Edo State House of Assembly, we have made bold to state that when the Comrade Governor has policies that are against the will of the people, we will oppose it. Our presence, therefore, is to make the Comrade Governor even more prudent in the use of public resources. Conflict between the legislature and the executive is not an abnormal thing in governance, but we can also co-operate with the executive without compromising the integrity of the legislature. That is what we have proven. And if co-operating with the executive is tantamount to more progress for the people of Edo State, tantamount to greater infrastructural development in Edo state, higher standard of living for the people of Edo state, that is what legislation is supposed to be. Because when you make laws and you perform your oversight functions, it is suppose to be for the upliftment of the standard of living of your people.
Upon your assumption of office, the House had gone ahead to pass some controversial bills, like the controversial UBE Bill that it has been a contentious issue between the PDP-led House and the state government. Some are of the opinion that it was the major reason that led to a change in the leadership of the House.
Well, as I have always said, change is the only thing that is normal in any group dynamics, in any society and if this leadership came on and believes that party-induced or triggered conflict is to the deteriment of the people of Edo State , we have every right and every reason to redress that situation. The continued non-approval of the board of the UBE was beginning to become a problem to Edo state in terms of performance in the educational sector. In terms of infrastructural development in the sector, to the extent that the sum of N5.2 billion was lost by the state, money huge enough to totally transform the basic educational system of Edo state all because there was a design by a political party not to co-operate with the governor. If it were on merit, we would have understood it. But it was purely on very partisan basis. And we saw it as a misnomer and since we approved that board, all right thinking people of Edo state today know that there is a new lease of life in the educational sector and that the sector itself has become an epitome of transformation. People are now happier to go to school. Schools have taken new shapes and whole lot of them are able to access agencies, aids that would help us uplift the educational standards of our people. Education seems to be one of the veritable industries in the state. This is an education-based state. And yet there is nothing to show for it. We begin to churn out children from schools, who to a very large extent are still illiterates. Today the case is different.
Like I said before, if co-operating with the executive is for the improvement of the standard of education in Edo state, we have no apology for that.
As a leader, what is the House doing to other PDP members that are not on suspension but are still boycotting sittings since the February 22, 2010 change of leadership in the House?
Dialogue and subtle pressure is the best option. We have made entreaties to them. We have asked them all to come back to work and because they are stuck along party lines they have refused to come back. But I can tell you that voluntary absence from sittings and from job, especially from our kind of job, has its own constitutional implications. Go to Section 109 of the 1999 Constitution, subsection F, it states clearly the penalty for prolong absence from the legislature and from office, but we have been magnanimous enough because we believe that any kind of division could still be healed. We believe that we don’t have to apply the sledgehammer all the time. We believe too that they would come to their senses in realising the futility of their actions. That is why we have not applied the provisions of the Constitution. But I can assure you that the Constitution which is the supreme law and groundnorm of our land will certainly come to play anytime we want to decide on any issue that has to do with the House.
Recently, a resolution was passed by the House and a directive issued by the state Ministry of Justice to the effect that the former speaker, the former majority leader and Hon. Blessing Agbebaku be prosecuted for allegedly using dangerous weapons in the parliament. How did the House arrive at this decision?    
After the event of February 22 an enquiry was set up here in the State House of Assembly and the report has been submitted, after which it was referred to the Assembly’s Service Commission and the outcome of the review was presented before plenary.  Plenary debated on it, looking at all the evidences that were available both to the press and to eye-witnesses on that day. It was resolved that those who violated the parliamentary privileges law should be prosecuted. In parliament it is unheard of for people to premeditate murder by bringing in dangerous weapons and dangerous implements into the hallow chambers, and in doing that they have violated the sanity of parliament and that was criminal. For those that suffered near fatal injury as a result of that encounter of February 22, you will recall that some of them are nearly maimed; some are still carrying foreign instruments in their body as a result of what they went through. Only last week, one of them came back from medical care abroad to clear his head because he was virtually going gaga. These are not parliamentary weapons. The weapons of the parliament are the pen and the biro and your voice. It is a place where we uphold the tenets of jaw-jaw and not war-war. Dialogue is the instrument of discussion, not battle-axe, tear gas or the gavel. Somebody’s skull was broken as a result of that incident because somebody took the gavel and hit on his head. So we have called for criminal prosecution of those who were found wanting and we hope the law will take it's course.
Since you came in as Speaker, the governor has been using veto power, using the House as a virtual rubber stamp to carry out certain actions, such as removal of local government council chairmen who belong to the PDP without following due process. What is your reaction on this?
You must understand the functions of the executive before you conclude on areas like the use of veto powers and all such. The local government laws says that before the governor takes such an action or in making such an action, he should consult the House of Assembly either in writing, or in taking such an action he should inform the House of Assembly in writing. He has done all of this. He did this under the former leadership when Ehima was suspended. He wrote to the House before the Akoko – Edo Chairman was suspended. He wrote to the House, when the issue of Orhionwmon came up. So I don’t know where he has really used his veto power to subvert the course of justice. So people must be careful in their use of language, because the truth is, what you don’t know you investigate it. Every time the Governor writes to the House, it is read on the floor of the plenary for the world to hear what he intends to do or what he has done. The governor has not subverted the authority of the House. What does it mean to use a veto power? When you use a veto power that means you override a bill. He has not overridden any of our bills. The last set of bills that were overridden were done by Osunbor not even by Oshiomhole. He is wiling and ready for such bills to be represented so that he can assent to them. And one of such is the Voluntary Pensions Bill or Participatory Pension Contribution Bill that was passed by the House. The then governor did not assent to it. Then Governor Osunbor did not assent to it. And he kept it down there. So we are saying that such bills, which are people-oriented must be revisited so that our pensioners and those who have a destiny with the pension scheme would be able to plan their future and their retirement.
Recently, several petitions calling for the probe and removal of some serving local government council chairmen of the PDP fold were received by the legislature, reportedly based on the cries of some persons that the governor uses veto power, how do you now assure the people of Edo State that these petitions will not be treated along party divide?
Well, some of the petitions are against members of the ruling party (AC), in the sense that the petition against the chairman of Ikpoba Okha – the chairman of Ikpoba Okha local government council is an Action congress member. I don’t believe that this House is interested in treating serious issues along party divide. This House receives petitions and treats them on their own merit by conducting public investigations into allegations contained in such petitions. We try to be very clinical in our investigations and nothing personal or party basis influences it.
To be specific Mr Speaker, there is the allegation that the former Oredo Local Government Chairman was removed without following due process and his deputy inaugurated as chairman instead.
I don’t want to agree that the former chairman was removed without following due process. He was removed and the House was informed. And the report of his removal was submitted to the House, and it was accepted by the former leadership of this House. I think it is the right processes we have followed and an enquiry was set up and the House accepted the report. The House accepted it and once the House accepted it and we did not decline it, then the executive has the right to do anything in terms of reinstatement or replacement.
How has your constituency benefited from your membership in the House?
As I am talking to you, if you are from my constituency, you will be happy that I am representing you. My constituency is a very enlightened constituency. And I can assure you that as a member of this House we have been well and adequately represented in the polity of Edo state. And today, my constituency is proud that I am the Speaker of Edo state House of Assembly and my constituency believes that I have given them the right voice in the scheme of things in Edo state.
Now, to the last Speakers’ conference in Markudi, Benue state, where you were reportedly sent out because the body did not recognise you as Speaker of Edo State House of Assembly because of litigations involved in the change of leadership in the House. What really transpired?
It takes the members of the Edo state House of Assembly and the people of Edo state to have their Speaker. Nobody other than these has the right to question the choice of the people of Edo state. And this choice has been well exercised by members of the Edo state House of Assembly.
The constitution of the Forum of Speakers or Speakers Conference, in part three states: “You are a member of that body if you are the Speaker of the State House of Assembly,” and the same section says that you vacate your seat when you are no more a member of your state House of Assembly. So none of this was in conflict. But what was reported widely was a misconception of what happened there. An observation was raised that the matter was in court, that I was been litigated. And we used the opportunity to educate them that they have clear misunderstanding of what was happening in Edo state. If contrivance of old alliances, because the former Speaker had been with them for some time, that was not the birth- right of anybody. The Speakership is not the birthright of anybody and nobody else can question my becoming a member of that Forum. And I used the opportunity to tell them that I am not even in court. Nobody is questioning my leadership in court. The matter in court is over the process of electing the speaker pro-tempro and which on his own led to the election of the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, and two, nobody has in anyway taken me to court to say you are not the Speaker of Edo state. We are not running a parallel government in Edo state. We have one state House of Assembly presided over by Mr. Speaker, and that is me.
Nobody was sent out of the Speakers’ conference in Markudi, not in anyway. So we must learn how to get out of the mindset of misconception. A lot of people have been wanting to make mischief by contriving stories, which they post in the press, and by the time you challenge them, they ask you why are you so over-bearing. Because I know that some of the insinuations were wrong, what is my business in trying to counter wrong insinuations?