Senate Wades into Plateau Assembly Crisis

•Lagos lawmakers implore Buhari to intervene, want illegal impeachment criminalised

Segun James

The Senate, yesterday, waded into the crisis rocking the Plateau State House of Assembly and condemned the ‘unconstitutional attempted’ impeachment of the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Abok Ayuba.

The Senate, in its resolutions, urged the state Assembly to be guided by the rule of law and the constitution in all of its legislative business.
This is as the Lagos State House of Assembly, has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari, to intervene and rise up in defence of the country’s democracy.

Coming under Order 42 and 52 of the Senate Standing Rules, Senator Istifanus Gyang, moved a motion of urgent public importance entitled, “Disruption of Legislative Business in PLHA: Need for Early Intervention of the Senate to Avoid Deterioration.”
Gyang, in his motion, noted with concern, the barricading of the Plateau State House of Assembly, which has halted legislative business as a result of lack of access to the premises.

According to the lawmaker, the alleged impeachment of the speaker, Ayuba Abok, by eight (8) members of the House, fell short of the two-thirds constitutionally required number, as provided for in Section 92 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

Gyang said majority of the members of House were opposed to the alleged impeachment of the Speaker, adding also that the Conference of Speakers of the 36 States, had denounced the alleged impeachment and withheld recognition for the Yakubu Sanda leadership.

The lawmaker, however, warned that the impasse, if left unattended to, might further degenerate, stressing also that, “The development has the capacity to negatively affect the Democratic image and standing of Nigeria at the global stage.”

Citing Section 11(4) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), Gyang explained that the provision empowered the National Assembly to intervene in the affairs of the state Assemblies, where the House was unable to transact normal legislative business.

Accordingly, the Senate in its resolution, urged the Assembly to be guided by the rule of law and the constitution in all legislative business, particularly, where and when it affected appointment and impeachment of a presiding officer, in order to deepen democracy and uphold the independence of the legislature as an arm of government.

The red chamber also condemned the unconstitutional attempted impeachment of Ayuba by eight lawmakers.

Meanwhile, the Lagos Assembly, while condemning the removal of the Speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly, called on the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, and others to ensure that the crises were resolved and that all those who took part in the Plateau crisis were brought to book.

The lawmakers, who spoke during plenary, condemned the alleged interference of the executive arm of the state government in the legislature and urged the Conference of Speakers to stop recognising any lawmaker, who emerged Speaker from such illegalities.

Lagos Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, who presided over the sitting, said every well-meaning Nigerian must speak against the impeachment of his Plateau counterpart, which has led to the Assembly being under lock and keys, adding that, the manner he was impeached left more to be desired.

“The parliament is the eyes and ears of the people. The impeachment is something we all have to rise up against. It happened in Edo and it has not been resolved as we speak. The roof of the Assembly was removed. The majority members are now residing in Abuja while the minority members are in charge.

“Now we have Plateau and we are talking about Imo State. Where is our democracy? It shows that it is not a fluke that the Lagos Assembly is above the common standard of excellence. If we don’t criminalise this across the country, it will continue,” he said.

Obasa also commended the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, for removing the police commissioner in Plateau after allegations that the latter played a role in the crisis, and called for the opening of the House for plenary activities, because, according to him, no state could be without a parliament in a democracy.

Hon. Rotimi Olowo, who moved the motion under ‘Matter of Urgent Public Importance’ said he was worried that in Plateau, the legislature which was the bastion of democracy, was under attack.

“Everyone is now pointing fingers at the governor of the state, who was also impeached as Speaker and who is supposed to know more about the sanctity of the parliament. With the concurrence of my colleagues, I want to say we condemn the invasion of the House and we also condemn the purported impeachment of the Speaker,” he said.

Deputy Speaker, Hon. Wasiu Eshinlokuni-Sanni, also condemned the Plateau situation,noting that the position of Lagos Assembly, when the constitutional review committee visited the state, was that undue interference of the executive in the legislature should be criminalised.
The leader of the House, Hon. Sanai Agunbiade, said impunity developed anywhere illegality was condoned, and that he expected the Speakers’ Conference to dissociate itself from what should be treated like a coup with the beneficiaries prosecuted.

Setonji David argued that where there was no legislature, there was no democracy, stating again that, it was illegal for six people to conduct the business of the day.

“We must not ridicule our democracy. We must not truncate democracy. How can we degenerate to this level?” He asked.
Others who condemned the crisis in the Plateau Assembly included Lukmon Olumoh, Owolabi Ajani, Richard Kasunmu, Victor Akande and Femi Saheed.