‘Sacked’ Plateau Assembly Speaker, Others Hold Sitting Outside Complex, Suspend Six Members

*CUPP condemns alleged Sack

Seriki Adinoyi in Jos and Udora Orizu in Abuja

Embattled Speaker of the Plateau State House of Assembly, Ayuba Abok, yesterday presided over a sitting of the legislature outside the assembly’s complex, with the Mace in place after eight members of the 24 members had claimed to have impeached him at 6 am and replaced him with Yakubu Sanda (APC, Pengana Constituency).

Deputy Majority, Mr. Philip Dasun, (APC, Pankshin South) at the sitting which had 14 members in attendance, moved the motion for the suspension of six of the eight members that carried out what he described as an illegal impeachment.

According to Dasun the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Section 92, subsection 2C ,had stipulated a clear procedure on how to impeach a speaker or a deputy speaker.

The deputy majority leader, who is also the House Committee Chairman on Information and Communication,said that none of the procedures was followed by the members who allegedly impeached the speaker.

He said that the members did not form quorum to sit and that they did not have a two-third majority required by law to impeach a speaker.

“They went against Section 92(2c) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Order 7 rule 14 of Standing Orders of the Plateau State House of Assembly.

“I therefore move that the six members that carried out the illegality be suspended till further notice.

“They include: Baba Hassan (APC, Jos North North), Saleh Yipmwang (APC, Dengi), Daniel Naanlong (APC, Mikang), Eric Dakogol (APC, Quanpan North), Mohammed Ballo (APC, Quanpan South) and Yakubu Sanda (APC, Pengana)”.

Abok while speaking with newsmen after the sitting said that they had been standing for the people of Plateau and for the truth. “We will continue to stand for justice, we will stand for the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, we will stand for democracy,” he said.

Seven members of House had Plateau State House of Assembly yesterday impeached its Speaker, Rt. Hon. Ayuba Abok, representing Jos-East state constituency.

However, the lawmaker representing Rukuba/Irigwe constituency in the House, Musa Agah, described the development as brazen illegality.

Also, the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) kicked against the removal of the Abok, by eight lawmakers.

Sanda said: “It was this morning (Thursday) that some few members rushed to the Plateau state House of Assembly as early as 6 am. You know the state House of Assembly is made up of 24 members and the constitutional requirement for the removal of the Speaker is 2/3 majority which is 16 members.

“So, seven lawmakers rushed to the Assembly this morning against the House rules that plenary commences from 9 am, and even if there is going to be an extraordinary sitting, the Speaker is the one who is empowered to convene such. But that did not happen.

“When some of us heard about it we rushed to the Assembly complex only to discover that security operatives had barricaded everywhere. Some of us were stopped from gaining entry to the Assembly complex while they also harassed others.”

However, responding to the development, 12 lawmakers of the House of Assembly, led by the Speaker, suspended six members of the Assembly for gross misconduct and betrayal of the House. They also passed a vote of confidence on the embattled Speaker.

Moving the motion for the suspension of the six lawmakers during plenary, Philip Dasun, member representing Pankshin North, said Saleh Yipmong Dengi (APC), Nanlong Daniel Mikang,(APC), Yakubu Sanda Pengana (APC), Mohammed Balo Quan Pan South (APC), Eric Dakogoal Quan Pan North(APC) and Baba Hassan(APC) Jos North-north suspension became necessary owing to their act of gross misconduct and attempts to cause disunity in the house. The Minority leader Peter Gyangdeng seconded the motion.

Reacting to the development, CUPP in a statement by its Spokesman, Ikenga Ugochinyere, alleged that the unjust removal of Abok is a ploy by President Muhammadu Buhari to remain in power beyond 29th May, 2023.

CUPP while opining that the removal is a joke on those who despite all evidence still refer to President Buhari as a reformed democrat, said that the impunity of Governor Simon Lalong must be curtailed before they derail the nation’s democracy.

The opposition parties therefore called on the 9 PDP members of the House of Assembly and the other 7 members of the APC who were not part of the impeachment to insist that Hon Ayuba Abok remains the Speaker, adding that they should resist the tyrants who cannot respect the tenets of constitutional democracy and principles of separation of powers.

CUPP said: “It is clear that only eight members of the Assembly did not form quorum and the House Rules which guide activities of the state legislature did not permit such an undemocratic situation where security forces will restrain members from accessing the Chambers while providing cover for only 8 members. The regime has now tried again and perhaps believes it has perfected the system it tried severally at the National Assembly to force leadership change.

“The impunity of the APC and Governor Lalong must be curtailed now by the people of Plateau State. The Governor knows and is no longer in doubt that he has become so unpopular that he cannot mobilize all members of the House from his Party. APC has 15 members of the House, but the Governor could only mobilize 8. How unpopular could a Party in power be? Nigerians must know at this point that the sin which Hon. Ayuba Abok is alleged to have committed against the APC and the Governor is that he gave Governor Simon Lalong an ultimatum to protect his citizens.

“This is like reminding the Governor that he had failed in his primary duty. These reactions are irrefutable evidences that President Buhari, the APC and Governor Lalong are comfortable with the insecurity and wanton killings in the country particularly in the Plateau. This is yet another wakeup call for all Nigerians to remain vigilant and watch this tyrannical regime closely and be ready to reclaim our country from them. We must not allow them foist insecurity and killings on the country and use that as an avenue to elongate their regrettable and disastrous stay in power.”

The relationship between the House and the Executive has not been cordial after the recent Jos crisis in August during which the House gave a two-week ultimatum to the Governor to resolve the crisis.

Earlier this week, there had been rumours that the Speaker would be impeached.

The speculations got heightened on Wednesday night when an alleged secret meeting between seven members of the Assembly and some top members of the Executive was leaked in several social media platforms.

In the said meeting, plans were perfected on how the seven lawmakers in that meeting will be guided and securely led to the Assembly complex to carry out the impeachment process.

As early as 6.am Thursday (yesterday) morning, Police and the operatives of the Department of State Services had barricaded all roads leading to the Assembly complex confirming the impeachment plot.

A member of the House, Gwottson Fom representing Jos South constituency told journalists that the police who were drafted to the Assembly to aid the impeachment process were deployed from the Government House.

Once the lawmakers were safely guarded to the chambers of the complex, eight of them in total, the Deputy Speaker, Saleh Yipmong began the proceeding to impeach Abok.

One of them, Hon. Dasun Philips, who was, however, not part of the initial seven, opposed the move saying it was against the House rules and norms to carry out such action. He was allegedly beaten and injured.

The Deputy Speaker Saleh Yipmong alongside Ibrahim Baba Hassan (Jos north-north), and others thereafter passed a vote of no confidence on the Speaker and moved a motion to impeach him.

Shortly after, the member representing Pengana constituency, Hon Yakubu Sanda was thereafter elected as speaker.

The House rules say two thirds of the 24 members must be available to effect an impeachment of the Speaker and deputy Speaker. This was violated.

Lawmakers elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party were denied entry into the Assembly during the impeachment process.

A petition had been on social media by a group under the aegis of Youths Rights Against Corruption (YRAC) accusing the speaker of corruption.

The group said it had submitted a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against the Speaker accusing him of several allegations, including abuse of office and financial misappropriation.

The group also demanded that the Speaker be advised to step down from his position immediately, pending the completion of investigation.

The Executive Director of YRAC, Mr. Abednego Musa signed the petition titled “Petition against Plateau State House of Assembly Speaker, Nuhu Abok Ayuba on Gross Financial Misconduct, Criminal Breach of Public Trust and Abuse of Office.”

Mr. Nanbol Daniel (PDP-Langtang North Central) said that the impeachment would not hold because it did not follow the House rules on impeachment of Speaker and Deputy Speaker.