Nigeria’s lawmakers in the House of Representatives have asked the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, and the Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Yusuf Bichi, to shut down the Edo State House of Assembly.
This followed an adoption on Wednesday of a report of the house’s ad hoc committee set up to investigate the crisis rocking the state assembly.
On July 9, members of the lower chamber of the National Assembly considered a motion seeking to take over the functions of the Edo Assembly, in line with the Constitution.
They also constituted a committee to investigate the crisis and recommend actions to be taken by the federal parliament.
Shortly after considering the report on Wednesday, the lawmakers asked the police and DSS to seal off the crisis-ridden state assembly.
The federal lawmakers said the state governor, Godwin Obaseki “should issue a fresh proclamation within one week in line with Section 105(3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), stating the date, time and venue (of the inauguration), and publish in any national daily and television station.”
They added, “That all actions taken by the 7th Assembly members should be declared null and void pending proper inauguration.
“That all members of the Edo State House of Assembly, both those who have been inaugurated and those who have not been inaugurated should dissolve their factions in the interest of peace and stability of the House, with the view to moving the state forward.
“That the Inspector-General of Police and the Director-General of Department of State Services should shut down the Edo State House of Assembly and provide adequate security to allay further fears of intimidation and threat as alleged by members-elect.”
The lawmakers also resolved that “where recommendations 1, 2 and 3 above fail, the National Assembly should invoke the provisions of Section 11 (4) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) to take over the state House of Assembly until the situation normalizes”.
