NEW EDO SPEAKER REVEALS REASONS FOR AGBEBAKU’S REMOVAL
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By; Sunmola Ganiyat
The newly elected Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Yekini Idiaye, has attributed the removal of his predecessor, Blessing Agbebaku, to alleged poor leadership, corruption and prolonged adjournments.
Idiaye, who represents Akoko-Edo Constituency I and is a third-term lawmaker, emerged as Speaker on Monday following Agbebaku’s resignation amid moves by lawmakers to impeach him.
Speaking to journalists after the Assembly’s plenary, Idiaye alleged that Agbebaku’s leadership was characterised by several challenges, including corruption and frequent adjournments without clear reasons.
He said the situation affected the effectiveness of the Assembly and hindered the progress of the state government.
Idiaye said, “The House was inaugurated on the 16th of June, 2023 under the leadership of Agbebaku, and since then we have been passing through a lot of challenges, corruption here and there, adjournment here and there, sometimes for 30 days without a cause. We are not happy with his leadership style. His leadership is poor, and it has been drawing the work of the government backwards.”
He said the change in leadership was necessary to support the administration of Governor Monday Okpebholo and prevent anything that could hinder the government’s performance.
“That is why we removed him. We must encourage our performing governor. He is doing well, anything that will derail or stop our performing governor, we must stop it. That is why we changed him. I can assure all of you that we will do everything possible to support Governor Monday Okpebholo to move this state forward,” Idiaye added.
His emergence as Speaker was also linked to the Assembly’s zoning arrangement, which stipulates that when the governor comes from Edo Central Senatorial District, the Speaker should emerge from Edo North.
As the oldest serving lawmaker from Edo North, Idiaye was subsequently elected to lead the Assembly.
Members of the Assembly later visited the Government House to brief Governor Okpebholo on the change in leadership.
Agbebaku reportedly resigned earlier on Monday following moves by lawmakers to impeach him, with 17 of the 24 lawmakers said to have signed an impeachment notice against him on Sunday night.
His resignation was confirmed by his media aide, Ivy Ebojele, who said further details would be disclosed later.
“I can confirm the Speaker’s resignation but details will be made public later,” she said.
Agbebaku’s telephone line was reportedly unavailable when contacted, while his media aide had yet to provide further details on the circumstances surrounding his resignation.
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