ISAAC SHOBAYO examines the recent supremacy battle that gripped the Plateau State Assembly and its attendant implications on the state politics temperature.
The constant changing of guard at the Plateau State House of Assembly is not new; it has become rhetoric as the hallowed chamber is always replete with crises. The current imbroglio occasioned by the reinstatement of the impeached Speaker, Abok Ayuba, by the Plateau State High Court is akin to a mere repeat of history and nothing more.
Recall that Honourable Ayuba was impeached in controversial circumstances in October 2021 and replaced with Yakubu Sanda. The reasons advanced as posited by the Majority Leader of the House, Hon. Daniel Naanlong, then were gross incompetence, highhandedness, and financial recklessness in the management of House affairs.
But political observers mentioned that the underlying factors responsible for the speaker’s impeachment could be linked to his perceived alignment with the opposition party, the PDP, over state matters, which boarded on prevalent insecurity in some parts of the state, precisely in Bassa, RiyomBokkos, and YelwaZangam in Jos North local government area of the state, where over fifty people were killed in a midnight attack by terrorists suspected to be killer herdsmen.
It was alleged that Abok was aligning with the opposition party to impeach the governor, Simon Lalong. A source close to the executive said this prompted the latter to quickly move against him.
From all indications, the Speaker’s position on the insecurity did not go down well with the APC-led administration in the state, which perceived Abok’s position as being too critical of the administration. Those who have been monitoring the trend of events in the Assembly thought that the reasons adduced by the APC members in the House were just a smokescreen to justify the impeachment.
There was also a belief that the impeachment did not meet the constitutional requirements of 2/3 and other processes. It was alleged that eight members of the House impeached Abok, but the majority leader of the House, Naanlong, controverted this when he declared that due process was followed in the impeachment as provided in Section 92, 2 (C) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).
Naanlong posited that 16 out of the 24 members signed a resolution for his impeachment, adding that 17 members were present at the sitting, and added that Abok wrote a resignation letter and pleaded with the new speaker to accept his resignation so that impeachment would not hang on his neck.
Dissatisfied with the way he was treated. Abok approached the Plateau State High Court and, as well, jettisoned the APC for the PDP. However, 18 months after precisely Monday, April 3, 2023, he got a reprieve of reinstatement through the Plateau State High Court, presided over by Justice Nefisa Musa, who said in her judgment that the procedure adopted for the removal of Ayuba was illegal and ordered for his reinstatement.
The Court further awarded the sum of N20 million as the cost of appearance and the sum of N138,000 as the cost of filing the matter against the defendant (House of Assembly).
Immediately after the Court’s pronouncement, the embattled Speaker returned to the House along with nine PDP members to take charge, where he told journalists that he had been vindicated from the illegal impeachment.
“With my honourable colleagues, today we give God the glory once again for this victory for democracy in Nigeria. We are here on the premises of the House of Assembly because all of us were elected to represent our various constituencies. We still have some months left for us to continue the assignment that was duly given to us by our various constituencies.
“Even though there was a crisis some time ago, today the court has given these terms against that illegality that was done.” I’m ready to work with the executive; we’ve never in any way said that I would never want to continue to work with them. That is the only thing that will give us peace in this state.
“Anybody that was in court today knows that the court has defined everything about the purported impeachment,” he added.
Before the sixteen APC members, who are the majority, could get their act together, Abok had taken over the House and presided over Tuesday’s plenary with nine PDP members in attendance. The sudden twist of events in the house caused great panic and confusion, even among the staff of the house over allegiance.
In a swift reaction to the judgment, the Majority Leader of the House and House Committee Chairman on Information, Hon. Nanlong Daniel, said, “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.”
“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.
Not satisfied with the judgment, the Speaker, Rt. Hon. YakubuSanda, along with 15 other members, appealed the judgment of the State High Court.
At the moment, both Sanda and Abok are laying claim to the speakership of the House; this, however, prompted the Plateau State Police Command to seal up the Assembly probably to prevent the breakdown of law and order.
The current crisis rocking the House is presently being interrogated by people of the state because, in a couple of weeks, the 9th Assembly will wind down, and more so, most of the principal actors in the impasse lost their bids to return to the House. For example, the reinstated Speaker, Abok, the embattled Speaker Sanda, majority leader Naanlong, and others lost out in the last election. Therefore, the reason behind the struggle is yet to be deciphered.
People are wondering why the sordid drama and the judgment are occurring at this material time. An analyst stated that the time is immaterial, saying the judgment will further boost democracy and also serve as a precedent and a reference for similar incidents in the future. He further buttresses the fact that the judgment will expose and curb the excesses and also the act of impunity by some top politicians and godfathers who are in the habit of coercing lawmakers to impeach recalcitrant speakers who may want to be independent and perform their statutory role of check and balance.
He narrated that state assemblies in Nigeria have become the apron strings of the executive arms and therefore must be subservient to the executive, especially the governors, adding that what is playing out and hunting the assembly is the habitual tendency of the executives who always want to lord themselves over the legislatures.
It is also believed that the judgment has also exonerated Abok of an avalanche of allegations levelled against him as the basis for his impeachment, one of which was financial impropriety. And also take away the albatross of impeachment hanging over him, which may affect his political career in the future.
A political pundit on the plateau declared this: “The judgment is a plus and a blessing to Abok, who is just starting his political career.” The judgment has completely exonerated this 400-level law student of the University of Jos from phantom allegations heaped upon him. “So the young man knows what he is doing by rushing to the assembly to effect the judgment,” he said.
It is expected that the executive branch and the other 16 lawmakers who orchestrated his impeachment will not fold their arms to allow him to return as Speaker of the House and, at the same time, will allow him and nine other members to gain access to the House of Assembly, hence the present police occupation of the Assembly complex.
From all indications, it is also an ego trip and a battle for supremacy between the APC and the PDP to justify the axiom that “He who laughs last, laughs best.” Based on the prevailing situation, the State Assembly might not be opened for legislative business under this confusion until the inauguration of the 10th Assembly.
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