Edo House Makes U-turn On Entitlements For Immediate Past Deputy Speaker

The Edo State House of Assembly has reversed its earlier resolution which mandated Hon. Maria Edeko to continuously benefit from the entitlements due to the office of the Deputy Speaker of the House.

The House’s decision comes one month after the lawmakers passed the resolution during her formal resignation from the position of Deputy Speaker.

Maria Edeko, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, lawmaker representing Esan North-East II, formally resigned from her position on May 19, 2025, following the attainment of majority status in the House due to the defection of the Speaker of the Assembly, Hon. Blessing Agbebaku, and several others to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.

In the resolution, Hon. Edeko was to continuously enjoy all the benefits accruing to her former office, such as salary, allowances, vehicles, among others.

However, the Speaker of the House, Blessing Agbebaku, at a plenary sitting on Wednesday, one month later, announced the decision to reverse the House’s resolution.

“On that very day of Rt-Hon Maria Edeko’s resignation, there was a document before me that stated that all the entitlements accrued to her as the former deputy speaker should be restored.

“Please, there is now a correction on that, that it is not all the entitlements, just a vehicle alone. Please, that should be corrected”, he said.

Recall that in what appeared to be a “valedictory session”, the lawmakers had unanimously adopted a resolution to accord her all the entitlements accruing to her former office.

The motion was moved by the Majority Leader of the House, Hon. Jonathan Aigbokhan, APC, Esan West constituency, and supported by the Minority Leader, Hon. Charity Airobarueghian Ighodalo, Ovia North-East I constituency.

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Aigbokhan said the resolution was in appreciation of her contributions and innovation to legislation in the state.

The lawmakers, in their separate contributions, showered accolades on the immediate past Deputy Speaker.

They praised her unwavering dedication, passion for public service, and the high level of integrity she consistently demonstrated throughout her tenure.

They also described her as a committed leader whose contributions left a lasting impact on the legislative process during her time as Deputy Speaker.

The Speaker said the House would be pleading with the former Deputy Speaker to continue to remain at the forefront of discourse and at the forefront of everything that the lawmakers will be doing at the House.