Lawmakers Accuse Governor Bello Of Fueling Kogi Assembly Crisis

SAN FRANCISCO, March 16, (THEWILL) – Members of the Kogi State House of Assembly loyal to the embattled Speaker Momoh Jimoh Lawal, on Tuesday insisted that the state governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello was the brain behind the protracted crisis in the state House of Assembly.

Briefing newsmen in Lokoja, the state capital, spokesman of the group of 15 lawmakers, Mathew Kolawole expressed concerns over the purported impeachment of Lawal by five of their colleagues, who he claimed acted under the cover of the executive arm of government.

“It is a shocking situation where members have to subject themselves to the direct dictates and command of the executive on what to do. And more disturbing is when signatures of 10 members will be forged in broad day light in a bid to forcefully impeach a Speaker,” he stated.

The group decried a situation where the House of Assembly is not allowed to serve as check on the excesses of the executive arm, thereby making it “mere puppets and stooges” of the powers that be.

Kolawole argued that while all members of the assembly agree that major political positions in the state should be zoned to ensure balancing, the choice of who occupies each position in the House should be prerogative of members and not the executive arm.

While declaring the purported impeachment which produced Hon Imam Umar as the new speaker as illegal, null and void, he stressed that all purported sittings and attendant actions taken by the group would also be of no effect.

Kolawole further described the decision of the House of Representatives to take over the functions of the Assembly as a welcome development.

Meanwhile, the recently sworn in Governor had denied having any hand in the lingering impasse that has become of the Assembly, arguing that the House was embroiled in leadership tussle even before he was inaugurated as Governor.