Police shut down Plateau State House of Assembly over speakership tussle

The Plateau State Command of the Nigeria Police Force has shut down the State House of Assembly complex over the ongoing crisis around the speakership position.

It was gathered that operatives of the police stormed the complex in the early hours of Wednesday.

The state police Command has not released an official statement on the development.

It would be recalled that Plateau State House of Assembly became divided into two factions, with one faction being loyal to the current Speaker, Rt. Hon Yakubu Sanda, while the other faction was loyal to the reinstated Speaker, Ayuba who was impeached in October 2021.

Ayuba was impeached by some members of the assembly in 2021 and was immediately replaced with Sandra who represents Pengana Constituency.

However, Ayuba challenged his impeachment at the State High Court where he sought a declaration that the procedure adopted for his impeachment was in violation of the provisions of Section 92 (2) (c) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and Order 7, Rule 14 of the Plateau State House of Assembly Rules 2021.

Read also:Court reinstates Ayuba Abok as Plateau Assembly speaker

The court on Monday had declared Ayuba’s impeachment as null and void and reinstated him as the speaker.

The court also awarded the sum of N20m as cost of appearance and the sum of N138,000 as cost of filing the matter against the defendant (House of Assembly).

However, the Majority Leader of the House and House Committee Chairman on Information, Hon Nanlong Daniel, has reportedly rejected the ruling

“After the impeachment of the former speaker, the house declared his seat vacant, which meant he was no longer a member of the house and could not benefit from the judgment”, Daniel was quoted.

“In any case, the house is not even aware of the judgment, and we have not been served. We are just hearing the news as a rumour. Whenever we are served, we will react to it.

“But for now we are not aware of the judgment. We have respect for the judiciary, and we have the option to appeal the case whenever we are served. But for now we don’t believe there is any judgment against the house.”

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