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By Olatunde Odimayo.
The deputy speaker of the Kogi state house of assembly, Rt Hon Aliyu Akuh, on Tuesday resigned as the number two man in the house following the defection of seven members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
In a letter sent to the floor of the house and read by the speaker, Rt. Hon Ahmed Imam, Akuh explained that he decided to throw in the towel after exhaustive discussions with his family, PDP leaders and critical stakeholders from his Omala constituency.
The former Deputy Speaker thanked his colleagues for their support and doggedness to institutionalise and deepen democracy.
Honourable Hassan Abdullahi (APC) Okura had been elected as the new deputy speaker by the House resolutions signed by 19 of the 25 members of the house.
In a related development, there were other major shakeup in principal positions of the kogi state House of Assembly. While Hon. Kolawole Mathew of Kabba/Bunu constituency retained his position as Majority Leader, Hon. Ahmed Mohammed of Ankpa I constituency emerged as the new Deputy Majority Leader. Hon. Bello Hassan Abdullahi of Ajaokuta Constituency emerged as Chief Whip, Hon. Muktar Adoke Mukhtar of Adavi as Deputy Chief Whip, Hon. Ojo Godwin Osiyi of Ogori Magongo as Minority Leader, Hon. Oluwatoyin Lawal of Yagba West as Deputy Minority Leader, Hon. Sunday Shigaba of Bassa Constituency as Minority Whip, Hon. Dr. Friday Alih of Ofu Constituency as Deputy Minority Whip.
However, the position of the minority leader in the house appears to be causing pandemonium following a letter sent to the chamber by the PDP Publicity Secretary, Hon. Bode Ogunmola indicating that five PDP lawmakers unanimously endorsed Honourable Friday Sanni Makama as their minority leader.
But when the Speaker read the letter before members in the hallow chamber, three out of the supposed five members whose signatory appeared in the letter withdrew their signatures.
Only the former speaker, Rt. Hon. Momoh Jimoh Lawal and the member representing Bassa constituency, Hon. Sunday Shigaba stood their grounds based on the resolution of Kogi State PDP.
The member representing Igalamela Odolu constituency, Honorable Friday Sanni Makama, while reacting to this development vowed to challenge this in court noting that, this was done under the influence of the executive.
Honourable Makama bemoaned the assembly for not adhering to the house rules.
In another development, another PDP lawmaker, Honourable Jimoh Musa Omiata, representing Yagba East state constituency announced his decision to decamp to APC.
Omiata said his decision is wholly based on the continued division and leadership crisis bedevilling PDP.
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