The Nigerian Senate has directed the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Solomon Arase, to seal the Kogi State House of Assembly complex until the crisis in the Assembly is resolved.
The upper legislative chamber also declared null and void, the impeachment proceedings embarked upon by five members of the Kogi State House of Assembly.
It also condemned the role played by the Police in providing cover for only five members out of twenty members of the Kogi State House of Assembly to commit what it described as “illegalities.”
These resolutions by the Senate were in concurrence with the House of Representatives which had ordered the takeover of the Kogi state House of Assembly over illegal removal of its Speaker.
The Senate noted that it was “invoking the powers conferred on it by section 11(4) of Nigeria’s constitution to take over the legislative functions of the state House of Assembly pending the resolution of normalcy in the Assembly.”
It further noted that, the action was in view of the fact that the Kogi State House of Assembly cannot perform its legislative functions due to intractable crises and volatile security situation in State.
Fact finding delegation
Following disagreement among the twenty members of the Kogi State House of Assembly, the House of Representatives recently sent a fact finding delegation to ascertain the true situation on the illegal removal of the Speaker of the state Assembly.
Part of the resolutions in the report of that delegation revealed that; The Kogi state House of Assembly has not been able to perform its legislative functions as a result of the lingering crisis rocking the house as confirmed by all the stakeholders in the state.
The report also showed that the House of Assembly in Kogi State has been under lock and key since the suspension of plenary on February 15, 2016, as none of the groups has held any meeting in the hallowed chamber.
It also said that there is palpable tension and apprehension, and possible security breach which could lead to further distrust & breakdown in law and order. And the division of the Kogi state House of Assembly cuts across party line and it’s prone to insecurity.
At the time the Senate was considering the report of the House of Representatives, the Senator representing Kogi West Senatorial district, Dino Melaye, attempted to persuade his colleagues against taking over his state House of Assembly, by arguing that matter was still undergoing a judicial process.
“Since it is a conventional practice that any matter that is awaiting judicial remedy would not be discussed on the floor of this senate, as a responsible senate.”
Senator Melaye’s submission was, however, over ruled by the Senate President Bukola Saraki, who reminded him that the matter being discussed in Senate was not as a result of any petition on the Kogi State legislature but the debate was on a report from the findings of the House of Representatives’ delegation that visited Kogi state.
Senator Emmanuel Bwacha, who also contributed to the debate, urged his colleagues to act wisely and ensure that the country’s democracy does not suffer as a result of the activities of those he described as “voodoo democrats.”
“I want to say Mr. President that our concurrence is very timely and nothing could have been better because, if we encourage this kind of voodoo democracy, one day in this chamber, some few members would rise up and say they are doing the same. And I think we must discourage this, we must make sure it doesn’t happen, our democracy is no longer a nascent democracy, we have come of age and so, we must act and act timely too,” Senator Bwacha said.
