former House Speaker and current Deputy Speaker (APC), Elizabeth Ativie, has finally passed her Ordinary Level O’Level conducted by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) less than 24 months ago, many years after retiring as a Director of Nursing services in the State civil service which require minimum of O’level entry qualification.
Ativie, representing Urhumwode State Constituency at the Edo State House of Assembly, made history on May 9, 2016 as the First Female Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly. She forcefully took over leadership of the House on May 9, 2016 in a commando like fashion, impeaching her predecessor, Victor Edoror, amidst gun shots, tear gasses and general violence at the House of Assembly which wounded many people.
Ativie is currently the Deputy Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly in a bizarre swap arrangement unknown to law that happened on 25th July 2016 which saw her neither resigning or being impeached but swapping her position as Speaker with Dr Justin Okonouboh while she stepped aside into the seat of Deputy Speaker, in a move which many political watchers say was politically motivated to hoodwink the Edo Central people into supporting the APC in the Edo 2016 gubernatorial election which the APC bypassed Edo Central in choosing their gubernatorial and deputy gubernatorial candidates.
It was discovered that Mrs Ativie only just recently enrolled for her WAEC result in 2014. This revelation has opened a can of worms into how a woman who did not have the requisite school certificate managed to become a nurse, a youth council chairman or even the Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly and how such a person will be able to retain her sear without effectively discharging the burden of satisfactorily explaining the allegations that would arise from this.
Elizabeth Ativie is the daughter of a policeman, she grew up in different parts of Nigeria due to the nature of her father’s job.
In her official CV, she claims to hold a B.Sc certificate in Health Education and a M.Sc certificate in Sociology and Anthropology. Elizabeth once worked as a professional nurse in the Edo State Civil Service until in 2006 when she retired as a Director. But checks reveal that she only just passed her WAEC in 2014.
Her political career began in 1999 and 2003 when she contested for a seat in the Edo State House of Assembly but had to step down on both occasions for one of her party’s candidates. Elizabeth contested and won a seat in the State House in the 2007 general elections. The election was later nullified by a tribunal which said that she rigged the election. Her determination however paid off in 2011, when she won a seat to represent Uhunmwode Constituency in the State House.
