The Edo State House of Assembly was taken over by the All Progressives Congress on Monday, and Jonathan Aigbokhan (APC–Esan West) was named the new Majority Leader.
The APC leadership announced the appointments of new key officials in a letter read by Speaker of the House Blessing Agbebaku during Monday’s plenary session.
The letter stated that Mustapha Lucky was appointed Chief Whip, Addeh Isibor as Deputy Majority Leader, and Aigbokhan as Majority Leader.
The APC had already notified the Assembly of its new majority status, indicating that changes in leadership will occur eventually. After four MPs left the Peoples Democratic Party and the Labour Party, the PDP’s number of seats dropped to 11, leaving the party with 13 seats.
Since the House does not formally recognize such a post, the Deputy Chief Whip position, which was formerly held by Richard Edosa (APC-Oredo West), was deleted. The lone member of the Labour Party, Edosa, just switched to the APC.
Speaker Agbebaku declared that the PDP would also submit its list of principal officers after the unveiling of the new leadership. He emphasized that the House’s joint duty to the people of Edo State should not be hampered by the distinction between majority and minority status.
“What matters is that we all work together to ensure the success of Governor Monday Okpebholo,” Agbebaku said.
In a similar event, Jarret Tenebe, the chairman of the Edo State APC, sent the Independent National Electoral Commission an ultimatum, requesting that by-elections be held immediately for two Edo State federal parliamentary seats that are now empty.
Tenebe voiced his displeasure with what he called an unreasonable delay in filling the open seats in a statement released in Benin on Monday. He claimed that the impacted constituencies had been without representation for more than three months, which went against electoral regulations and democratic ideals.
The vacancies resulted from Dennis Idahosa leaving his post as the representative of Ovia North East/South West Federal Constituency to become deputy governor and Monday Okpebholo resigning from his Edo Central Senatorial seat to run for governor, a race he won.
“The people of Edo Central Senatorial District and Ovia North East/South West Federal Constituency have been without proper representation for three months now,” Tenebe stated. “This is against the spirit and letter of our constitution and democratic norms.”
He asked INEC to move quickly and hand off responsibility to the Edo State Independent Electoral Commission in the event that it lacks the funds to hold the by-elections.
“If INEC is financially incapacitated or lacks the will to conduct these elections, then it should cede the responsibility to the Edo State Independent Electoral Commission,” Tenebe said. “The people cannot continue to be denied their right to representation.”
The APC chairman emphasized that the ongoing delay compromised the integrity of the democratic process in addition to depriving people of their right to vote.
“This inaction sends the wrong message. It undermines the very essence of democracy, which thrives on representation and participation,” he added.
