Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State and the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) met with warring members of the state House of Assembly Tuesday night following the impeachment of the Speaker, Victor Edoror and his Deputy, Bright Osayande.
The meeting following protest from APC members from the Edo Central senatorial district of the state where the Speakership was ceded to, who are arguing that the change of leadership was dangerous for the party in Esanland where the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) seems stronger in the state, particularly as the governorship election approaches.
Meanwhile, the new Speaker of the House, Elizabeth Ativie and 16 members who signed the impeachment of the Speaker vowed to resist any attempt by the leadership of the party to persuade them to return Edoror. Some of the members who confided in Huhuonline. Com source after their meeting said they were ready to dump the party for the PDP rather than bring back the impeached Speaker.
Huhuonline. Com gathered that the governor made attempt to persuade the lawmakers to change their decision but each of the members narrated to the governor and leaders of the party how the Speaker had let them down, adding that while the Speaker was getting richer majority of them were getting poorer.
They specifically informed the governor that while the Speaker receives N54million for the running of the Assembly monthly, their quarters look like poultries just as the Speaker never carried them along on how the N54million was being expended.
The lawmakers further lamented that while the Speaker receives the sum of N9.5million monthly for running his office, other lawmakers receives their normal N370,000 as salaries, adding that even the 45 Special Adviser positions allocated to the Assembly, the Speaker confiscated 25 to himself while most of the ordinary members are left out.
The impeached Speaker and his Deputy were also in the meeting and were helpless when the angry lawmakers confronted them with these facts. When Oshiomhole observed that the lawmakers were not ready to listen to his pleas, he quickly had a separate meeting with other leaders of the party including the state chairman of the APC, Anslem Ojezua, who is from the same senatorial district with the impeached Speaker.
However, Huhuonline. Com gathered that the worry among the top echelon of the party in the state, is how to compensate the Esan people. As it stands now, both the Deputy Governorship slot and the Speaker is from Edo South while the governor is from Edo North.
But the lawmakers who are mindful of this situation, allayed the fears of the party leaders, assuring that since the governorship may likely come from Edo South after Oshiomhole, they were ready to relinquish it to Edo Central as soon as a new governor is elected.
Huhuonline.com learnt that Governor Oshiomhole has scheduled another meeting with the lawmakers for Sunday due to the public Holidays announced by the state government in honour of the late Oba of Benin.
