The newly elected Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Yekini Idiaye, has disclosed that lawmakers removed his predecessor, Blessing Agbebaku, over alleged poor leadership and corruption.
Idiaye, who represents Akoko-Edo Constituency I and is a third-term legislator, assumed the speakership on Monday following Agbebaku’s resignation amid moves by members of the Assembly to impeach him.
The new Speaker, while addressing journalists after the Assembly’s plenary, alleged that the former leadership failed to effectively manage the affairs of the legislature and contributed to delays in the work of the House.
According to him, the Assembly had been confronted with several challenges since its inauguration on June 16, 2023, including alleged corruption and prolonged adjournments.
“The House was inaugurated on the 16th of June, 2023 under the leadership of Agbebaku, and since then we have been passing through a lot of challenges, corruption here and there, adjournment here and there, sometimes for 30 days without a cause.
“We are not happy with his leadership style. His leadership is poor, and it has been drawing the work of the government backwards,” Idiaye said.
Explaining the decision to change the leadership, Idiaye said lawmakers believed that retaining Agbebaku would hinder the effective functioning of the Assembly and the implementation of the state government’s programmes.
“That is why we removed him. We must encourage our performing governor. He is doing well; anything that will derail or stop our performing governor, we must stop it. That is why we changed him,” he said.
Idiaye pledged that the Assembly under his leadership would work closely with Governor Monday Okpebholo to move the state forward.
“I can assure all of you that we will do everything possible to support Governor Monday Okpebholo to move this state forward,” he added.
The new Speaker’s emergence was also influenced by the existing zoning arrangement in Edo State, which favours Edo North for the speakership whenever the governor is from Edo Central.
Idiaye, being the oldest member from Edo North in the current Assembly, was subsequently elected to lead the legislature.
The leadership change followed Agbebaku’s resignation earlier on Monday. The resignation reportedly came after lawmakers began moves to impeach him.
According to reports, 17 out of the 24 members of the Assembly had signed an impeachment notice against Agbebaku on Sunday night.
His resignation was confirmed by his media aide, Ivy Ebojele, who said details surrounding the development would be made public later.
“I can confirm the Speaker’s resignation but details will be made public later,” she said.
Members of the Assembly were later said to have proceeded to the Government House to inform Governor Okpebholo about the change in leadership.
Efforts to reach Agbebaku for his reaction were unsuccessful as his telephone line was busy when contacted. His media aide had also not issued a further statement explaining the circumstances surrounding his resignation.
The sudden change in leadership has opened a new chapter for the Edo Assembly, with Idiaye assuming office amid expectations that the legislature will focus on restoring stability and accelerating its legislative activities.
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