It was yet another unforgettable day in Kogi State on Thursday as the move to impeach the Speaker, Hon. Momoh Lawal and replace him with Hon. Godwin Osiyi from Ogori Mango state constituency turned violent when dangerous weapons were used freely within the vicinity of the assembly, leaving no fewer than five members and some policemen seriously injured in the fracas.
Trouble started around noon when the member representing Idah constituency, Hon. Ukwubile Ochijenu, moved a motion on urgent public importance and while reading the list of members who had signed for the removal of the speaker, his deputy and minority leader, resulted in a rowdy session in the assembly.
However, the speaker, in a dramatic move, seized the mace and disappeared to reconvene the assembly comprising mainly his loyalists at 4.30 pm.
It was during his attempt to leave the assembly complex that fighting broke out between his loyalists and those opposed to him.
It took the security personnel manning the complex and a detachment of anti-riot policemen to quell the situation, even as workers of the assembly and journalists had to scamper for safety.
In the melee, some journalists covering the assembly were attacked, their iPads and other gadgets were smashed, while a reporter with NTA covering the assembly, who had earlier recorded the proceedings, was trailed by some thugs to NTA’s office and his camera seized.
Despite the violence, 17 out of 25 members voted to remove Lawal, his deputy and the majority leader, citing incompetence. In the speaker’s place, the assembly elected Osiyi as its new speaker.
The Kogi assembly is made up of 14 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members and 11 members of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Kogi has been in the eye of the storm since the November 21 governorship election, which was declared inconclusive by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Even after the supplementary election on December 5, there has been no lull in controversies from the state. A new government is scheduled for inauguration on January 27, 2016.
Credits: Thisday
