The Edo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) said it has no control over the activities of the Nigeria Police.
The party made the remarks in reactions to the accusation leveled against it by the State government that they plan to forcefully and illegally inaugurate members-elect of the assembly that were yet to be inaugurated since June 2019 by the state governor, Godwin Obaseki.
Chairman, Edo State APC Media Campaign Council, John Mayaki, in a statement made to newsmen in Benin City, however, accused Edo State Government of carrying out several onslaughts against the constitutional independence of the legislative arm of government by attacking its members-elect and denying them representation.
While noting that the APC, as a political party, does not control the Police, he insisted that the state Governor is in the best position to tell the world who is behind the Police blockade on the Assembly
“It is a known fact that the outgoing Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has treated the House of Assembly, an independent and co-equal branch of government, as a mere extension of his office through the brutalization of members-elect and the denial of representation to the majority of members.
“The outgoing Governor hijacked a tiny minority and purportedly inaugurated them in the dead of the night. The sham inauguration was condemned and set aside by both arms of the National Assembly after their separate investigations revealed that the members, and indeed the Clerk, were forced to participate in the illegality under threat to life.
“With all these going on at the Assembly Complex, it is Mr. Godwin Obaseki who is in the best position to explain to the world what is going on and why.”
“The Edo State Government should explain to the world and Edo people what is going on. And they can start by explaining why a arm of government meant to carry out oversight functions and check the excesses of the Executive arm has been holding plenary inside the Government House for months over a supposed ‘fumigation and renovation exercise’ at the Assembly Complex”,he said.
