Appeal Court to Punish Edo Speaker, Clerk over Failure to Swear in PDP Candidate

Appeal Court to Punish Edo Speaker, Clerk over Failure to Swear in PDP Candidate

The Court of Appeal sitting in Benin-city, Edo State, has ordered the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Mr. Victor Edoror, and Clerk of the assembly, Lawson Ugiagbe, to appear before it next Thursday for deliberately disobeying its order to swear in Mr. Sylvanus Eruaga as member representing Etsako West constituency 11 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.

Justice Olukayode Bada who issued the order on Monday in Benin-city has mandated the state Solicitor General, Mr. Oluwole Iyamu, to produce Edoror and Ugiagbe personally in court to explain why they should not be committed to prison.

Justice Bada noted that Edoror and Ugiagbe, through their counsel, rebuffed attempts by counsel to the PDP candidate, Dele Igbinedion, to resolve the dispute arising from the court’s issuance of forms 48 and 49 at which the appellate had on March 21 this year ordered the parties to settle outside the court.

Both the speaker and the clerk are facing contempt charges before the court after counsel to the PDP obtained forms 48 and 49 respectively for refusing to swear in Eruaga as member of the house of assembly.

According to an investigation, the meeting slated by parties in the suit was stalemated as counsel to the respondents accused Eruaga of figuratively pointing a gun on their heads by obtaining the forms 48 and 49, and have asked him to drop the forms as it pose serious dangers to their clients, maintaining that such remained the only condition to swear him in as lawmaker, a condition Eruaga is not willing to do away with.

The delayed swearing in of Eruaga has been a subject of controversy between forces loyal to the opposition party and the APC in the state.

According to Justice Bada, the speaker and clerk should appear before the court to explain why they should not be committed to prison for neglect and disobedience of order of the court.

He observed with dismay that Eruaga’s lawyer (Igbinedion) had made attempts to discuss through counsel to the respondents but they rebuffed him in the process.