The Edo State House of Assembly has a new presiding officer. Yekini Idiaye, the lawmaker representing Akoko-Edo Constituency I, was elected speaker on Monday, filling the vacancy left by the abrupt resignation of Blessing Agbebaku, whose two-year tenure at the helm of the legislature came to an unceremonious end.
Agbebaku’s exit was not a routine handover. According to multiple accounts, the former speaker stepped down after it was gathered that Agbebaku chose to resign after discovering that about 18 of the 22 members had signed an impeachment notice against him, with reports suggesting many of those lawmakers had lost their party tickets for re-election.
Other accounts put the figure at 17 of 24 members who signed the impeachment notice against him on Sunday night, August 16.
Agbebaku’s media aide, Ivy Ebojele, confirmed the resignation on Monday but offered few details, saying only that she could confirm the Speaker’s resignation but that details would be made public later.
Agbebaku had led the Eighth Assembly since its inauguration, though his leadership came under intense pressure in May 2024 after he suspended three lawmakers over an alleged plot to impeach him and other principal officers of the Assembly, a foreshadowing of the crisis that would eventually claim his speakership.
Idiaye’s ascension was not simply a matter of default succession. Ordinarily, the Deputy Speaker would step into the role, but the newly elected Speaker himself explained that the Assembly operates a zoning arrangement determining which senatorial district produces the Speaker based on where the sitting governor comes from.
With Governor Monday Okpebholo hailing from the Edo Central Senatorial District, the speakership was expected to go to a lawmaker from Edo North, and Idiaye, the longest-serving member of the House from Edo North, having sat since 2019, fit that bill as its most senior figure.
Monday’s plenary, presided over by Deputy Speaker Osamwonye Atu, opened with the formal announcement of Agbebaku’s resignation letter. The sitting briefly descended into confusion over the status of the Owan West Constituency seat, the seat Agbebaku himself represents, though the disruption was quickly contained.
Sunday Ojiezele, representing Esan South East, then nominated Idiaye for the speakership, a nomination seconded by Eric Okaka of Owan East. The Clerk of the House administered the oath of office shortly after, formally installing Idiaye as the Assembly’s new leader.
In his first remarks to journalists after plenary, Idiaye did not mince words about why his predecessor had to go. He accused Agbebaku of poor leadership and corruption, telling reporters, “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.”
He added that the Assembly intended to fall in line behind Governor Okpebholo’s agenda, framing the leadership change as a course correction rather than mere political maneuvering.
Lawmakers were also reported to have visited Government House afterward to formally brief the governor on the change in Assembly leadership, underscoring the political weight attached to the transition.
The House also took up a letter from the Edo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress relating to further changes in the Assembly’s leadership structure, a signal that Monday’s reshuffle may not be the last word on the matter.
Further details on the exact circumstances of Agbebaku’s exit, promised by his aide, are still awaited.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
Edo State’s Assembly leadership crisis was driven less by scandal alone than by numbers, and Speaker Blessing Agbebaku resigned Monday after roughly 17-18 of the House’s 22-24 members signed an impeachment notice against him, many reportedly lawmakers who’d lost their re-election tickets.
He was replaced not by the Deputy Speaker (the usual succession path), but by Yekini Idiaye, whose selection was dictated by an internal zoning arrangement requiring the Speaker to hail from Edo North whenever the Governor comes from Edo Central.
This was a numbers-driven ouster resolved through a pre-existing political formula, not a spontaneous or purely merit-based transition.
