Senator Rochas Okorocha, representing Imo West, has faulted the decision of the Senate to take over the Edo State House of Assembly if Governor Godwin Obaseki does not issue a fresh proclamation in one week.
Okorocha, a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), said the Red Chamber is overreaching itself on the Edo Assembly issue, adding that the matter should be constructively resolved among concerned interests and not in the manner the National Assembly was going about it.
The Senate had during its plenary on Tuesday given Governor Obaseki one week to issue a fresh proclamation for the constitution of the Edo State House of Assembly or it would take over its legislative functions.
It took the decision when it received the report of an ad hoc committee led by Senator Abdullahi Sabi, which had in the past two weeks investigated the crisis in the Edo assembly.
The committee had initially recommended three weeks for the take over, but the recommendation was later amended to a week.
Senate President Ahmad Lawan, while defending the position, said: “The decision is in conformity with the decision of the House of Representatives two weeks ago.”
However, Okorocha took a contrary position, saying the Senate appeared to be in a hurry.
The immediate past governor of Imo State said: “The National Assembly seems to be overreaching its boundary in this matter. We appear to be in a hurry to take over the Edo State House of Assembly.
“We should see this as a family affair in APC and we must not ridicule ourselves in public, rather we should look into the matter instead of this position the Senate is taking.
“I have been a governor before and I think what is happening in Edo is simply a failure of leadership which can be addressed.”
