Bayelsa: Opposition Assembly members petition NASS, AGF, IGP on swearing in

TWO months after the In­dependent National Elec­toral Commission (INEC) presented Certificate of Returns to three opposition State Assembly members-elect in Bayelsa State, they have sent a protest letter to the leadership of the Na­tional Assembly and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) of the impending threat of anar­chy in the State House of Assembly following the de­cision of the Speaker, Hon. Kombowei Benson not to administer on them the oath of office as duly elected members of the Assembly.

The three State Assem­bly members-elect, Watson Afred Belemote of the All Progressive Grand Alli­ance (APGA), represent­ing Brass Constituency 2, Gibson Edwin Munalayefa of the Labour Party repre­senting Ogbia constituency 2 and Gabriel Michael Og­bara of African Democratic Congress (ADC) represent­ing Ogbia constituency 3, were two months ago de­clared winners by the Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt and issued Certifi­cate of Return by INEC.

The three aggrieved members-elect, in the pro­test letter addressed to the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki, the Speaker of the Federal House of Representative, Hon. Yaku­bu Dogara, the Attorney- General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami and the Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase, warned that though they have re­solved to explore various legal and peaceful means to compel the Bayelsa Speaker to administer oath of office on them, the continued fail­ure may result in security breach and breakdown of law and order.

In the letter written by their solicitor, Jude Rex- Ogbuku they lamented that upon the receipt of the certificate of return and for­mal presentation of the let­ter to the Clerk of the State House of Assembly, they had waited patiently to be sworn-in which has not been possible.

They wondered why two PDP House of Assembly members that won re-run election in March were sworn-in while their case have not been attended to.

The letter reads in part “It has taken two months since the court order and the for­warding of the various cer­tificate of return on the State Assembly with no reply

“That while we were kept in the dark, the two Assembly members of the PDP, who won re-run elec­tion on 5th of March,2016 were sworn in on the 14th of March.

“Our client position is that there is no reasonable excuse, legally and mor­ally, for the PDP dominated House of Assembly not to have sworn in the two PDP members with the other three Assembly members-elect.

“That, worse still is that on Monday of the same day the three State Assembly members-elect were in the State Assembly complex and met with the Clerk of the House, Aaron Timiye and he assured them that since the PDP members were returned, they were likely to be sworn in along with them.

“Our client have, there­fore, taken the position that the only way to open to them is to fight for their rights in any means open to them

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