Conference of State Legislatures Condemn Impeachment of Kogi Speaker

 

The Chairman of CSLN and the Speaker, Gombe State House of Assembly, Alhaji Inuwa Garba, made the statement at a news conference in Abuja.

``Following the crisis that led to the impeachment of the speaker of Kogi, the conference set up a six man fact-finding committee headed by the Kwara speaker, Mr Razak Atunwa.

`` Based on the available evidence, it is clear that the purported impeachment of Abdullahi Bello was not done in accordance with provision of 1999 Constitution, which requires a two-third majority of members vote in order to impeach a speaker.

According to Garba, Kogi House of Assembly, have 25 members and two-third will translate to 17 members required for an impeachment.

He said that only 12 members sought to impeach the speaker, ``this is a breach of Section 92(2) (e) of the constitution.’’

The chairman said that CSLN frowned at the breach of the constitution by some members of Kogi State House of Assembly and would address Bello as the legitimate speaker.

Garba called on the President Goodluck Jonathan and Attorney General of the Federation to protect the constitution by ensuring that the Kogi state house of assembly returned to status quo.

He also appealed to the Inspector General of Police to restore the security details which were ``improperly" withdrawn from the speaker.

Also speaking, the Speaker, Nasarawa State House of Assembly, Alhaji Musa Mohammed, said that the conference was not in any way against impeachment of any speaker that was found wanting.

Mohammed added that as lawmakers, they were only concerned about the process leading to Bello’s impeachment which was not in line the provision of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

He restated the CSLN’s commitment to the norms of democratic procedure, respect for rule of law, transparency and accountability in governance.

You will recall that the Speaker of Kogi State House of Assembly and other principal officers of the House were impeached in Oct. 16.

Bello described his impeachment as illegal as 12 out of 25 members signed the petition against him.