Following the illegal removal of Hon. Momoh Jimoh Lawal, the Speaker for the Kogi State House of Assembly, which has generated crisis, the House of Representative in other to calm the situation has taken over control of the Hose of Assembly.
According to reports, for activities to continue as usual, the green chamber would however need the Senate to concur before it can take over.
The lawmakers also declared as null and void, the unconstitutional impeachment of Lawal by five members out of 20, in addition to its condemnation of the role of the police in the crises.
The House directed the Inspector General of Police (IG), Mr. Solomon Arase, to seal up the assembly chambers and mobilise a special team from the Force Headquarters to take over the security of the state assembly from the police in the state, as part of the processes to facilitate the takeover.
Following a letter seeking its intervention, the House on February 23, 2016 had dispatched a 10-man fact finding delegation to the state to investigate the issue.
The delegation led by the Deputy Chief Whip, Hon. Pally Iriase, presented its report to the House yesterday, where its recommendations were unanimously carried. The decision of the House is derived from Section 11 (4) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) which states that:, “At any time when any House of Assembly of a state is unable to perform its functions by reason of the situation prevailing in that state, the National Assembly may make such laws for the peace, order and good government of that state with respect to matters on which a House of Assembly may make laws as may appear to the National Assembly to be necessary or expedient until such time as the House of Assembly is able to resume its functions; and any such laws enacted by the National Assembly pursuant to this section shall have effect as if they were laws enacted by the House of Assembly of the state…”
The delegation, in its report, said there was palpable tension and apprehension of security breach which could be highly volatile if not handled with care because of ethnic distrust nature of the state, confirmed by security reports.
This is further exacerbated by the unsettled matters arising from the governorship election, the report said.
Iriase, while presenting the report said the delegation met with the state Governor, Mr. Yahya Bello, Lawal and his group, the state commissioner of police and his assistant, and the state director of DSS, while the delegation was shunned by Hon. Umar Imam (who was elected Speaker by five members) and the Clerk of the state assembly.
The report indicted the police noting that the ACP, Mr. David Danbatta, who had been approached by some members “with an unsigned paper that the Speaker had been impeached which he reported to the state Police Commissioner. He was ordered to tow the Speaker’s (Hon. Lawal) official vehicles to the Government House and withdraw the policemen attached to him, which he complied with.”
It condemn the action of Imam and his group for relying on a “non existent injunction” to attempt to scuttle the constitutional function of the House of Representatives, by refusing to meet with the delegation.
The state assembly cannot perform its legislative function due to the intractable crises and volatile security situation in the state, the report said, calling for the invocation of Section 11 (4).
