Yekini Idiaye, the lawmaker representing Akoko-Edo Constituency I, has emerged as the new Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly. Idiaye, a third-term member of the Assembly, takes over from Blessing Agbebaku, who resigned as Speaker on Monday amid moves by lawmakers to remove him from office.
Agbebaku Resigns Amid Impeachment Move
Agbebaku stepped down from his position as some lawmakers pushed for his impeachment. His resignation was confirmed on Facebook by his media aide, Ivy Ebojele, who said further details would be made public later.
“EDO ASSEMBLY SPEAKER RT HON CHIEF BLESSING AGBEBAKU RESIGNS,” she wrote.
Seventeen of the 24 lawmakers had reportedly signed an impeachment notice on Sunday night, increasing pressure on the former Speaker.
Idiaye Emerges as New Speaker
Idiaye’s emergence followed the zoning arrangement in the Assembly. The arrangement provides that when the governor comes from Edo Central Senatorial District, the Speaker should come from Edo North. As the oldest member from Edo North, Idiaye emerged as Speaker under the arrangement. Without the zoning agreement, the Deputy Speaker would have automatically succeeded Agbebaku.
Speaking after Monday’s plenary, Idiaye accused the former Speaker of poor leadership and alleged corruption in the Assembly. He said the House had faced repeated adjournments and other challenges since Agbebaku became Speaker in 2023.
“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,” Idiaye said.
He added that lawmakers were unhappy with Agbebaku’s leadership style, which he claimed was affecting the work of government.
“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,” Idiaye said.
The new Speaker also pledged the Assembly’s support for Governor Monday Okpebholo and promised to work towards moving the state forward. Members of the Assembly subsequently visited the Government House to inform the governor about the change in leadership. Agbebaku’s telephone line was busy when contacted, while his media aide had not released further details on the circumstances surrounding his resignation.
