Following a small leadership change, Blessing Agbebaku and Maria Edeko were re-elected as the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Edo State Assembly on Monday.
The two, who belong to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), kept their jobs when the state leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) addressed a letter to the House. However, Agbebaku declared a slight alteration to the House’s major officers after reading the letter that APC interim state chairman Jarret Tenebe had sent him.
The Majority Leader, Deputy Leader, and Chief Whip of the House were replaced by Charity Aiguobarueghian, PDP, Ovia North-East I; Natasha Osawaru Irobosa, PDP, Egor; and Yekini Idaiye, PDP, Akoko-Edo I.
The three were replaced by Lecky Hussein Mustapha, APC, Etsako West I, as Chief Whip of the House, Addeh Emakhu Isibor, APC, Esan North-East I, and Ibhamawu Jonathan Aigbokhan, APC, Esan West, as Majority Leader.
Since there was no such position in the legislature, the Deputy Chief Whip post that had previously been awarded to Richard Edosa of the Oredo West district was subsequently canceled.
Tenebe, the state acting chairman of the APC, and Lawrence Okah, the secretary, signed the letter titled “Nomination of Principal Officers of the Edo State House of Assembly” dated April 7, 2025.
Parts of the letter read: “We write to refer you to our earlier correspondence dated 14th March, 2025 to your office notifying you of the majority status of our party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the Edo State House of Assembly.”
“Consequently, we hereby forward to you the party’s nomination of principal officers’ position in the House.”
“Majority Leader, Hon Ibhamawu Jonathan Aigbokhan, Esan West constituency, Deputy Majority Leader, Hon Emakhu Addeh Isibor, Esan North-East I, and Chief Whip, Hon Lecky Hussein Mustapha, Etsako West constituency.”
The Chief Whip, Lecky Hussein Mustapha, is from Edo North Senatorial District, while the majority leader and deputy majority leader are from Edo Central Senatorial District.
As you may recall, Richard Edosa was the only lawmaker elected on the Labour Party platform before he recently defected to the APC.
The Speaker, Agbebaku, revealed that the PDP would also bring its list of principal officer nominees to the House, but he also pointed out that his position as Speaker and the Deputy Speaker were not assured in the ongoing leadership transition in the House.
