The speaker Cross
River State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. John Gaul Lebo has fired back at Joseph
Odok popularly known as the change agent for saying that the speaker is killing
Cross River state.
The speaker who spoke
through a press statement signed by his chief press secretary Azogor Ideba told
Joseph Odok to all get his fact straight, rely less on gossips and be mature
and be civilized in his write-ups.
Recall that TDN had in
its 21st of August publication, publish Joseph Odok’s Statement
against the speaker. Mr. Odok had in his statement among other things accused
the speaker of softly killing the state through his actions and inactions. He said
the Rt. Hon. John Gaul Lebo is afraid of his deputy and other house members
impeaching him, thus he has never given the deputy speaker a chance to preside over
sittings for over two years running now.
In his words: “It is a reality that the speaker has
very unreasonable suspicion of his Deputy and the rest of the members of the
House of Assembly. In the National Assembly and the Senate, deputies are given
opportunity to preside over legislative session. Even the Senate that has a
mixture of APC and PDP, there have been countless times that the Senate
President Senator Saraki has offered opportunity to Senator Ike Ekweremadu to
preside over Senate session. The ineptitude of John Gaul has created a deep
fear that breads distrust and suspicion of his Deputy and other house members,
this is the reason he cannot spare a legislative session without his
superimposing presence. It is a pity.”
In his reply, the
speaker made it clear that he is not afraid of any of neither his colleagues
nor being impeached because he has not committed any impeachable offense.
“Joseph
Odok, Mr Speaker is not scared of impeachment because he has not/never
committed any offence to warrant such. His legislative craftsmanship speaks
volumes. So he has nothing to fear. The
Speaker is enjoying the best of relationship with members and the Deputy
Speaker particularly. So he does not feel threatened in any way or form”. He said.
The Honourable
speaker of Cross River House of Assembly took time to detail out Odok’s issues
and treated them one after the other and at some point he had to school Odok on
the proceedings and responsibilities of the house.
His statement reads
in full:
Attention Joseph Odok!
RE:
How the Speaker Cross River State is killing CRS: It is not just Ayade's Fault
A publication on the above subject matter by Joseph Odok on The Daily
News (online) Publication of 21st August, 2017 and other online news
media refers.
‘Joseph Odok, get your facts, take the pain to verify, rely less on
gossips and rumours, divorce hate and malice from your criticisms; be truthful,
mature and civilized in your write-ups because not many out there are as
ignorant; and gullible’.
The major problem of the Cross River State is not John Gaul neither is
it the Cross River State House of Assembly. The Assembly
living up to its mandate has been able to create the enabling legislative and
legal environment needed to take the state to the next level. It is on record
that the Cross River State House of Assembly is one of the best in the country
and it’s Speaker, Rt. Hon John Lebo, unarguably one of the best in the country
with several laurels to show. For Joseph Odok to impugn and aver that the
‘Cross River State House of Assembly is a redundant house. It boasts of laws
that are not visible…and Speaker John Gaul Lebo is inept’ is to me a brazen
display of ignorance with a dint of mischief. It is very ludicrous for an Assembly
with a record of over 40 bill, numerous novel initiatives and very compelling
motions to be described in such despicable terms.
‘Joseph Odok, Mr Speaker is not scared of impeachment because he has
not/never committed any offence to warrant such. His legislative craftsmanship
speaks volumes. So he has nothing to fear.
The Speaker is enjoying the best of relationship with members and the
Deputy Speakerparticularly. So he does not feel threatened in any way or form’.
Joseph Odok, neither the Assembly nor the Speaker inherited any
functional website from previous Assembly; please furnish us with the address
of the claimed website if you have it; and what would it benefit the Speaker to
pull down an existing website of the Assembly? The present Cross River State
House of Assembly is the most accessible in history. So there is absolutely
nothing to hide neither is there any fraud to perpetrate in the Assembly.
And finally, for the umpteenth time, the Cross River State House of
Assembly will be the last to engage the Executive in public brawl as this is
uncouth. There are many civilized channels to take on the Executive or call it
to order on any contentious issue; and the Assembly has never failed and will
not fail to engage the executive where and when necessary.
The Cross River State House Assembly is responsibly representing the
yearnings and aspirations of the people through its laws, motions and other
legislative functions and initiatives. No amount of blackmail or mudslinging
will cause it to derail.
Signed:
AzogorIdeba
Chief Press Secretary to Hon Speaker
Cross River State House of Assembly
At this point one
begins to wonder who is wrong and who is right. Is the ‘Change Agent’ really
sure of his accusations levelled against the CRHA? And on the other hand is the
Speaker only putting up a defence or are his claims factual?
Whatever the case may
be, one thing is certain there are atoms of truth from both sides. Odok may not
be totally wrong and he may not be totally correct either. After all it is said
that for every nonsense, there is a sense.
Let’s all watch out
for the continuation because I am certain that the story has just begun.
Ukorebi Esien
Blogs and edits for TDN
0 comments: