6th Kogi State House of Assembly at Two; The Journey So Far – Miliki

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The 6th Kogi State house of Assembly was inaugurated on the 4th of June 2015 and since then a lot has happened in the life of this very important institution. It all started after the inauguration on that day, with the election of Hon. Momoh Jimoh Lawal as The Speaker. The Speaker continued to preside until a drama emerged when a group of 5 members of the Assembly, on the 16th of February 2016, less than one year of the inauguration of the House, pronounced the impeachment of The Speaker Hon. Momoh Jimoh Lawal and some of the principal officers of the House, and announced Hon. Umar Imam as Speaker. That led to a lingering crisis which affected the smooth running of the Assembly.  This also led to legal actions by aggrieved members under the leadership of the then impeached Speaker, from High court to the Appeal court.

However, after this unfortunate development, which led to the intervention of the National Assembly which set up a committee that visited the State House of Assembly. This could however not resolve the crisis. The Appeal court sitting in Abuja pronounced on 28th June 2016, that the impeachment of the Speaker Hon. Momoh Jimoh Lawal, and others was illegal, null and void. Despite this ruling, and with the intervention of various stakeholders, on the 26th of July 2016, in a letter addressed to The Clerk of the House, Hon. Momoh Jimoh Lawal resigned as Speaker. On that same day Hon. Umar Imam was emerged as the Speaker of the House. Since then, the Assembly has witnessed tremendous peaceful co-existence.
As a regular visitor to the Assembly, participating in public hearings, through written presentations, lobbying and Advocacy on legislative freedom and independence, the 6th Assembly in my opinion, is with a mixed feeling in the last 2 years. It is normal in a human society/organization to have improvement and setbacks. However, the 6th Assembly in the last 2 years has been an interesting one. It had passed several motions and bills despite constant adjournments, which is the right of legislature globally, that regulates its own activities as an independent arm of government.
The quality of debate, the hours of sitting, the numbers of attendance by members of the House, is an improvement over the previous ones I have witnessed. We have also witnessed renovations by the Executive under the current leadership, although not to the expected standards. However, it has improved on the performance of the legislators.
But we are very worried that despite the huge resources expended on the 6th Assembly, the numbers of oversight function and their reports, has not been too encouraging. It is regrettable and worrisome, in the 21st Century and in the present digital age, and the level of information dissemination required, The Kogi State House of Assembly is yet to have a functional website. We call on the Assembly, as we move to the 3rd year, to seriously look in that direction, so as to help the documentation process and data for both members of the Assembly and their activities.
It is also pertinent to create constituency activities and offices. While we had witnessed some, a lot of the members are yet to comply with this obligation.
Despite the constant pronouncement and request by the Speaker Rt. Hon. Umar Imam, that members should sponsor bills that make meaningful impact in the lives of the people, only 4 private member bills are currently pending before the House in the last 2 years, which does not augur well for such an important institution.
In conclusion, we thank almighty God that have preserved the lives of all honourable members that will continue to legislate for the people of Kogi State. We wish to congratulate them on this 2 years anniversary and call them to continue to maintain the independence of the Legislature as an institution, so as to encourage the separation of power in line with the provisions of law and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Happy Anniversary
 

– Idris Miliki Abdul

Executive Director, Centre for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution (CHRCR)

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