Last Monday, Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State signed the state budget into law in defiance of the National Assembly which, some three days earlier, had asked for the budget to be submitted to the national legislative body consequent upon the takeover of the functions of the Kogi State House of Assembly by the House of Representatives. It is not obvious how Kogi State officials hope to circumvent the clear provisions of the law in spending state funds not appropriated by a lawful body. But whatever steps they take subsequently will be unconstitutional, notwithstanding the Attorney General of the Federation’s creative interpretation of the constitution.
The State House of Assembly made up of 21 members is clearly not functioning. The so-called 2016 Budget signed into law by Gov Bello was perused by a minority of state lawmakers unable to form a quorum. On February 16, five lawmakers, believed to have been instigated by the executive arm, had purportedly impeached the Speaker, Momohjimoh Lawal, who was supported by 15 lawmakers, and replaced him with Umar Imam. The ensuing inability of the state Assembly to convene and function as a legislature prompted the House of Representatives to send a 10-man panel to probe the stalemate. The result was that on March 9, the Reps took over the functions of the Kogi State House of Assembly. On March 18, the Senate concurred in the takeover to give the measure teeth.
But in an indication of what is truly amiss in Kogi, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, had written a letter, believed to have been prompted by ulterior motives, to Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, advising him to reopen the State legislative building ordered shut by the Reps, insisting that the legislature could still function if the right legal steps were taken. The National Assembly of course took offence, but the stalemate has persisted, especially with the defiant posture of the governor himself.
Now, there is no doubt that senselessness and lawlessness reign in Kogi State. The police have somewhat retraced their step, but the AGF is still waffling and pussyfooting. The governor feels animated by his defiance of constitutional provisions to keep up his antagonism toward the dominant faction of the state legislature. The minority lawmakers in turn recognise that federal and state powers appear inscrutably tilted towards them, making them to be further entrenched. Meanwhile, the disenfranchised majority lawmakers are groaning bitterly under the impunity of the governor and his federal backers.
Keeping the Kogi House of Assembly sealed will neither deter the lawless behaviour of the minority lawmakers nor assuage their exuberance, for they can always pretend to lawmaking anywhere it pleases them. But it is important the House of Assembly continue to be sealed so that those affronting the law can only do so to the considerable disquiet of their consciences, assuming they have not been so stifled that their owners can’t claim any moral compass. It is also important that the House of Representatives should issue a caveat to the public, especially financial institutions, to desist from associating with state officials in respect of the so-called appropriated budget of the state. If that still does not bring the intransigent governor and the reprobate faction of the legislature to their senses, the National Assembly, functioning as the state lawmaking body, should initiate impeachment proceedings.
It will have no bearing on the many election cases pending in the tribunal over the last governorship poll.
The usurper faction in the Kogi Assembly debacle has taken frantic steps to shore up their number from the measly five that triggered the confusion in the legislature. But whatever their numerical strength is now, it does not mitigate the unlawful first acts taken by that querulous faction in embarking on the impeachment of Speaker Lawal. If the governor is too heady to understand the implication of the crisis he has engineered and encouraged, and his federal backers lack the circumspection and democratic credentials to restrain themselves, the National Assembly has a duty to enforce the law in order to prevent one deviant and fractious state from bringing the house down on everybody. It is a shame that five lawmakers claimed to have impeached a Speaker backed by 15 members. What is even more worrisome to the country is the rabblerousing by Kogi youths as they thoughtlessly swooped last week on the National Assembly to protest the sealing of the House of Assembly. Surely there is a limit to rank idiocy.
Credit: Adekunle Ade-Adeleye, Nation
