Edo State under the stewardship of Governor Godwin Obaseki is the only
Governor in Nigeria that is yet to make proclamation for the
inauguration of the State Assembly to commence legislative business as
the constitution demands.
The Governor, who praised himself for breaking the records of his
predecessors by scoring 24/24 in the state legislative arm during the
just concluded election held on March 8th, 2019 is now withholding the
proclamation for inauguration.
As no government exists in a vacuum, Governor Godwin Obaseki’s
abdication in this case has cast deep thought on the minds of the
people as to why the Governor is withholding the proclamation for the
inauguration of the 7th Assembly.
According to the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
as amended, section 104 of the constitution stated thus: “A House of
Assembly shall sit for a period of not less than one hundred and
eighty-one days in a year”, and section 105 (1) also stated, “A House
of Assembly shall stand dissolved at the expiration of a period of
four years commencing from the date of the first sitting of the
House”, and subsection (3), states “Subject to the provisions of this
Constitution, the person elected as the Governor of a State shall have
power to issue a proclamation for the holding of the first session of
the House of Assembly of the State concerned immediately after his
being sworn in, or for its dissolution as provided in this section”.
On account of the above constitutional proviso, on what grounds is the
Governor withholding the proclamation or is he now scared of the
danger of his success on scoring 24/24 in the state legislative arm?
It’s therefore a clarion call to the Governor to do the needful as
enshrined in the constitution in order to have a safe landing come
2020.
