Edo pdp, ac at loggerheads over assembly seat

Uchechukwu Olisah, Benin City - 15.05.2009

The Edo State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said that it amounts to the “disregard for the judiciary for the Action Congress (AC) in the state to blackmail the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Mr. Zakawanu Garuba, to swear-in Mr. Uwamose Amadasun, as the member representing Uhunmwode constituency.”

The reaction of the PDP came on the heels of an accusation by the AC that the Speaker of the PDP-dominated House was denying the people of Uhunmwode their constitutional representation in the House, because of his purported refusal to swear-in Mr. Uwamose of the AC, who was declared by the court of appeal as the winner of the Uhunmwode constituency seat in the April 14, 2007 election after the appellate court sacked Mrs. Elizabeth Ativie of the PDP, as representative of the constituency.

But, in a statement signed by the state secretary of the PDP, Mr. Felix Utubor, and made available to newsmen on Thursday in Benin City, the PDP added that it would not encourage the Speaker to disregard the judiciary by swearing-in Uwamose.

The PDP said the AC could not pretend not to know that the issue of who represented Uhunmwode constituency in the House of Assembly was still pending at the Court of Appeal, just as it described as sad, what it called “AC’s negation of the principles of the rule of law, equity and justice.”

The Edo State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said that it amounts to the “disregard for the judiciary for the Action Congress (AC) in the state to blackmail the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Mr. Zakawanu Garuba, to swear-in Mr. Uwamose Amadasun, as the member representing Uhunmwode constituency.”

The reaction of the PDP came on the heels of an accusation by the AC that the Speaker of the PDP-dominated House was denying the people of Uhunmwode their constitutional representation in the House, because of his purported refusal to swear-in Mr. Uwamose of the AC, who was declared by the court of appeal as the winner of the Uhunmwode constituency seat in the April 14, 2007 election after the appellate court sacked Mrs. Elizabeth Ativie of the PDP, as representative of the constituency.

But, in a statement signed by the state secretary of the PDP, Mr. Felix Utubor, and made available to newsmen on Thursday in Benin City, the PDP added that it would not encourage the Speaker to disregard the judiciary by swearing-in Uwamose.

The PDP said the AC could not pretend not to know that the issue of who represented Uhunmwode constituency in the House of Assembly was still pending at the Court of Appeal, just as it described as sad, what it called “AC’s negation of the principles of the rule of law, equity and justice.”