The national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Comrade Adams Oshiomhole said interference in the activities of Bauchi and Edo States House of Assemblies is embarrassing to the constitution of the country.
Oshiomhole said this while fielding questions from State House correspondents at the weekend after a close-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari.
He said: “Like for rule of law how can I be a governor physically presiding over people who are more endowed than me? But with the law on my side people take a bow because the law protects me. So it’s about rule of law.
“You know the law provides for how the House should be proclaimed transparently the day it’s announced, members elect are informed of date and time for inauguration. These are clearly spelt out in the Nigerian constitution. And just last week you were all witnesses to how President Muhammadu Buhari issued proclamation letter to the Clerk many days before stating date and time of the inauguration of the two chambers of the National Assembly.
“Even while we are still negotiating to ensure that our party was not divided on the floor of the House, without prejudice to the outcome of those negotiations, the President issued proclamation because he is obliged by the constitution to do so whether he likes it or not and he did.
“He did it transparently. He has led us by example. For me, it’s very embarrassing if any state governor, particularly of APC extraction, will do anything that is less than what the constitution says and the example that our President has set.
“So, you know that what happened in Edo was that they did not publicize a proclamation letter, the members were not informed, they did the inauguration at 9:30 pmin what in a Supreme Court judgement they call nocturnal hours. Business of parliament are done transparently; they are not secret cult.
“Now you have 24 member House, 19 members protested. You have 6 and you carry people in their short knickers, even in the House they have rules, the dress code. So, it happened in Edo, it has happened in Bauchi. Like Edo, Bauchi used the minority of 10 to go and proclaim the House and lock out 20 APC members and got those 10 people to elect, exactly the way Edo did with 6 and then coopted other 3 people to become nine and even at that it is nonsense. For us these are completely illegal. And that is why we said so. If it is wrong, it is wrong whether it is done by APC or by PDP; whether is the Chairman’s state or not.
“The law is blind to those sentiments. I believe by the end of the day, the solution is return to the rule of law. Let’s properly follow the law; let the parliament do what they have to do but people have the right to lobby for people they want and whom they prefer. This is also legitimate.”
On whether he had constituted him self to a godfather in Edo state, Oshiomhole said: “What is the evidence? It’s all about accusation. The media has a duty. They have to give you the particulars of that godfatherism. What’s the evidence? I am a democrat. That I accept the credit, not only that I fought godfatherism, I launched the one-man-one-vote campaign to fight against election rigging anywhere in Nigeria and by the special grace of God under PDP with Anenih alive, and at his best, I won all the 18 local government areas and I won 95 percent of the total votes cast in my second term election.
“So, Edo people know me and I know them. I don’t need short-cut to sustain my position in the system. But you know that there is nobody in Nigeria who is not open to accusations. The important thing is that he who accuses should give you.”
