APC lawmakers offered me money not to join PDP — Ebea

Festus Ebea is the Deputy Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly and leader of the lawmakers that suspended the Speaker, Uyi Igbe, and other legislators. He states his own side of the story in the crisis that engulfed the House, in this interview with ALEXANDER OKERE

 The Edo State House of Assembly on June 9 suspended you and three other lawmakers on grounds of bringing the House to disrepute and inducing members with N50m to defect from the All Progressives Congress to the Peoples Democratic Party. What’s your reaction to this claim?

The suspension is quite laughable because the rule, which they stated to back up the suspension, Rule 38 (3, 4 and 6), is quite explicit to the effect that for you to be suspended, you must be at the sitting and it is one person at a time. You cannot suspend a group. Also, in line with the law of natural justice, they did not even give us fair hearing. If you are going to suspend us, why did you not set up a body to first of all hear from us?

The suspension must be based on what you did while on the floor of the House and not what was purported to have been done. By “misconduct” they alleged that the Deputy Speaker was always in nocturnal meetings with other people.

What about this issue of receiving millions of naira?

When the suspension came, the Speaker and others decided to deal with the former APC lawmakers that defected, going about to allege that the three defectors, Patrick Osayimwen, Oredo East; Friday Ogieriakhi, Orhionmwon South and Jude Idehen, Ikpoba-okha, got money to defect to the PDP. But the ones who alleged were the ones who got money.

When money was shared to the remaining APC legislators, they did not consider the rest. They offered me money because I had not crossed but I refused. Mine was even tripled but I still refused because the issues I have with them are clearly stated and till tomorrow, I will not back down on those issues; it is not about me. God, the judge of all, knows if I collected money, whether from the PDP or the Federal Government or from any other human being to do what I am doing.

Nobody induced me. Inasmuch as I know I cannot speak for any of my colleagues, if you verify from them, you will find they were not induced.

Why did you, three PDP suspended lawmakers and five other PDP lawmakers decide to speedily suspend the Speaker, Uyi Igbe, the Majority Leader, Philip Shiabu, and other senior members of the House?

If they felt they formed a quorum to suspend us without calling us, we equally have the right. The House of Assembly is not meant for only Mr. Speaker and any other person. It is meant for all of us. As we realised that, we equally formed a quorum. To form a quorum in the Edo House of Assembly, there has to be eight members. But we were nine and I am the Deputy Speaker. We had the right to sit, especially when we had urgent issues. We got there and equally suspended them.

On what grounds, exactly, were they suspended?

We suspended them on the grounds that they acted illegally, having suspended us. The law is for all of us. We equally must take it up and make sure that they were suspended.

In a briefing sequel to the counter suspension, you said they disrespected the House by bringing in miscreants into the Edo State House of Assembly?

You must have seen on television, the thugs they brought into the compound. As lawmakers, we cannot be seen to be breaking the laws. It is wrong to bring in people who have no legitimate business being there. The thugs brandished weapons, cars were smashed and some honourable members, who were not members of the ruling APC, were injured. The issue is because people are crossing over to the PDP.

I believe that it is on record that there was a time a PDP senator crossed over to the Action Congress of Nigeria and heaven did not fall. Recently, when my brother from my own Esan Senatorial Zone crossed from the ruling PDP to the APC, we received him in the House and went to his residence to have a drink across party lines. But in this case, because people have crossed from the APC to the PDP, they were suspended. Also, because they could read the body language that I had the intention to cross, the Speaker and his followers decided to suspend me. Why must you persecute me for intention?

Did you actually connive with the Nigeria Police to break into the hallowed chambers, as alleged by the House?

I have no business with the police. Every honourable member has the police attached to him or her. I did not see the police in any untoward behaviour. They should not get the police involved.

The House on June 10, passed a resolution calling President Goodluck Jonathan and the Inspector-General of Police for security intervention on the grounds of assassination threats by you and your group on the lives of the Speaker, the Majority Leader, the House Committee Chairman on Youths, Sports and Information. Can you react to that?

They are all bundles of lies in the sense that I believe in the sanctity of human life. That is why it pains me to see colleagues for over three years raising false alarm over assassination threats because of money or power. I cannot do that. God knows that if I plan to assassinate my colleagues he would never let me see the light of day.

Like I tell people, the Speaker is a nice person. The closest of all honourable members to me is the Majority Leader. He is the only person I visit in his residence. I do not even patronise the Speaker’s house as much as I patronise the Majority Leader’s house.

We belong to the same Catholic faith, we attend the same parish, we sit together and we receive the Holy Communion together. If they do not know the meaning of that, I do. I still love him in spite of all this. Yesterday, he was outstanding in the truce we were able to broker on Wednesday because he played a prominent role. I believe that the spirit of God touched all of us and used him seriously to make sure that we were able to get on with the business of yesterday, despite the fact that we spent 12 tortuous hours trying to talk to one another. Anybody who says that the Speaker is marked for assassination is lying. I know that my other colleagues will not do that and I pray that God will not let it come to reality.

What was the outcome of the twelve-hour meeting between the two factions in the chamber on June 11?

God was in control because some of the members from the Speaker’s side were poised for war. Some of them were there with bullet-proof vests hidden under their normal clothes. But when they got in there, they found out that God was there with the overall bullet-proof cover for all of us. We started asking ourselves why we were fighting one another because it was not worth it.

We sat and negotiated. Those who were suspended were angry and terms were negotiated. Trying to throw might around will not help the cause of governance of this state because the people of Edo State will bear the loss. I do not think that the comrade governor and the lawmakers would want that.

We are trying to find a solution to the problem. At the end of that meeting the Speaker directed the Majority Leader and the Minority Leader to hamonise positions.

Since you are open to a peaceful resolution, what are your demands?

Our demands are clear. The level of impunity must be brought down. There must be tolerance from both sides. Like I said, people have been moving from party A to B and heaven did not fall. Why can’t party B not move to party A. When there is tolerance, we will move forward.

The governor should please not play politics inside the hallowed chamber or with House members. Let them be united with you in moving Edo State forward. Do not rule the House along party lines. There might be caucuses, but they should not exist in such a way that members will begin to throw muscles to show who is stronger because it does not help the cause of why we are there.

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