The crisis rocking the Kogi State House of Assembly got messier on Tuesday as the G-15 members of the assembly accused the executive arm led by Governor Yahaya Bello of fuelling the logjam.
The faction that is loyal to the “impeached” speaker, Rt Hon Momoh Jimoh Lawal, also said it was erroneous for anyone to accuse them of being sponsored by external forces before they could stand up to defend their rights.
Addressing newsmen on behalf of the group in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, the majority leader, Matthew Kolawole, said some people were deliberately bringing in misconceptions into the issues behind the crisis in the house.
He said what the group had collectively resolved to fight was the height of impunity in the process of changing the leadership of the house.
Kolawole said, “We have resolved to stand up against a situation where five members under the dictate and protection of the executive will announce the impeachment of the speaker and other principal officers, where a quorum is not formed and five members will claim to have sat.
“Where members have to subject themselves to the direct dictates and command of the executive on what to do, where signatures of 10 members of the house will be forged in broad daylight in a bid to forcefully impeach a speaker, where oath of office of a house speaker will be taken in the office of the deputy governor.
“Where the house will no longer serve as check on the excesses of the executive, where the house will be puppets/stooges under the armpits of the executive, where there will be executive actions without reference to the guiding principles of law among others.”
He faulted the claim of the G-5 members that they had been conducting sittings peacefully, saying “where is peaceful sitting that is been made reference to when a few members sit under heavily armed and stern looking, ready to shoot security men sponsored by the executive to protect only a few with tax payers money?”
Kolawole said the group as civilised and law abiding citizens had taken the lath of civility to seek solution to the crisis by taking its complaints to the national assembly which had promptly intervened and invoked the relevant sections of the constitution to take kver the functions of the house pending the restoration of peace.
According to him, the claim of a build up of number to the G-5 after the purported impeachment was wrong, saying one cannot build up upon illegality in a bid to legitimise unlawful act.
The majority leader noted that inaugurating the three new members was illegal as no quorum that would have allowed sitting was not formed, arguing that the quorum of the assembly according to its guideline is nine members.
It would be recalled that the governor had during the visit of the House of Representatives committee on the crisis said he had no hand in the crisis in the house.
He said as a believer in the spirit of separation of power, the executive should not interfere in the activities of the assembly as the members were independent enough to take charge of their duties.
The governor however advised the members to resolve the crisis promptly, saying the amicable resolution of the warring factions would go a long way in restoring confidence, hope and unity that is required for the rapid growth of the state.
Credit: Tribune
