Mayaki hails President Tinubu over State of Emergency in Rivers …..Says, “Edo was not lucky under Obaseki’s dictatorship

By David Odama

A former Chief Press Secretary to ex-Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, Mr. John Mayaki, has commended President Bola Tinubu for his decisive intervention on the ongoing political crisis in Rivers State, describing it as a bold and necessary step to restore democratic order.

Mayaki who contrasted Tinubu’s leadership with that of former President Muhammadu Buhari, also lamented that Edo state was not so fortunate when Obaseki crippled the state’s legislature, leaving Edo state without a functioning House of Assembly for years.

According to Mayaki, while Tinubu has swiftly responded to the Rivers impasse, Buhari’s administration remained indifferent when a similar crisis engulfed Edo state involving 14 members of the Edo Assembly.

“President Tinubu’s intervention through a series of high-level meetings and directives, has sought to prevent further escalation, because of his administration’s commitment to upholding democratic institutions, Mayaki said.

“President Tinubu’s leadership and approach is to prevent lawlessness and that no governor governs without a legislative oversight like we experienced under Godwin Obaseki in Edo State – we were not as lucky under Buhari’s presidency.”

Mayaki recalled that during Obaseki’s tenure, the Edo State House of Assembly was effectively shut down – it was even demolished and truck load of granite offloaded at the gate after the midnight inauguration of a handful of lawmakers loyal to Obaseki while the majority of the elected lawmakers were denied entry into the legislative chambers which was relocated to Government House under the supervision of the governor.

“Obaseki succeeded in governing without a functioning legislature despite public outcry and appeals to the federal government under Buhari’s administration which failed to intervene, and allowed our democracy to be subverted. I think Buhari’s failure to act emboldened Obaseki’s excesses and dictatorship”.