5th February, 2016
The Speaker of Edo State House of Assembly, Victor Edoror, has explained reasons why a candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Sylvanus Eruaga, has not been sworn in as member of the House.
He said the PDP candidate in the 11 April, 2015 House of Assembly election is currently being investigated by the House for alleged forgery of certificate of return.
P.M.NEWS reports that the Court of Appeal sitting in Benin, had on 19 December, 2015, declared Eruaga winner of the Etsako West II constituency in the April 11, 2015 election, asking Yakubu Gowon of the APC to vacate the seat for Eruaga of the PDP.
Eruaga had during a ppress briefing held at the state secretariat of the PDP on Friday, accused the Speaker of conniving with the state Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, to prevent his swearing in as a member of the Assembly.
He said he has fulfilled all the necessary conditions needed to be sworn in as a lawmaker and has presented himself to the Assembly several times, but the assembly declined to swear him in.
The embattled PDP candidate who was flanked by the state chairman of the PDP and other party leaders, displayed to journalists a Certificate of Return issued and signed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Enrolment of Order and clearance papers from the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) to back his claim that he has fulfilled the conditions stipulated by the Electoral law to be sworn in.
“The Speaker keeps saying they will get back to me. Court officials served the House through the Clerk a Certified True Copy of the Enrolment of Order.
“They said they wanted a Certificate of Return, I brought it. The speaker told me that my matter was not in his hand. He said he has minuted on it and sent to the governor,” he said.
Also speaking, the Edo PDP chairman, Dan Orbih, alleged that the list of court orders disobeyed by Governor Oshiomhole was long, adding that, “this is one court order we will not allow him to disobey.”
But speaking in defence of the delay, the Speaker denied working with Governor Oshiomhole or anyone anyone else to frustrate Eruaga’s swearing in, adding that the Assembly was not an apron string to the Executive arm of the Edo State government.
“We are investigating a petition concerning forgery of certificate of return against him,and that until that is exhausted, he cannot be sworn in,” he said.