House of Reps’ plans to shut down Edo Assembly is unconstitutioal, says PDP

Kola Ologbondiyan

The order by the House of Representatives asking the Police and the Department of State Services (DSS) to shut down the Edo State House of Assembly is unconstitutional says the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, Thursday in Abuja the PDP also described the order as provocative, saying it has no place in a democratic dispensation.

Ologbondiyan cautioned the leadership of House of Representatives to desist from actions that violate the provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and could trigger a constitutional crisis in Edo and the nation at large.

He also criticized the All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership over its inability to manage its “avarice and internal strife” playing out in Edo.

The statement read: “The PDP states that no section of the 1999 Constitution confers the House of Representatives with the powers to issue orders to a state governor or direct the shutdown of a sitting State House of Assembly.

“Whether in language or action, such is only obtainable in a military system.

“The PDP hereby invites Nigerians to note that section 11 of the 1999 Constitution, upon which the House of Representatives anchored its decision, does not in any way empower the House of Representatives to shutdown a functioning state legislature.’’

Ologbondiyan also cautioned the federal legislature to note that such imperial stance against a legislative house; a symbol of the sovereignty of the people was self-destruct.

He added that it also opened the fundamentals of the nation’s democracy to unwarranted attacks.

Ologbondiyan said that was particularly as there were already apprehensions across the country that the shutdown order was a prelude to autocratic tendencies.

“The PDP, therefore, counsels against any arm of government overreaching itself to take actions that undermine our constitution.

“It encourages dictatorial tendencies against our institutions of democracy and the essentials of personal freedom and rights of citizens in our nation,’’ he added.