Confusion is trailing the impeachment of the Speaker of the Plateau State House of Assembly, Abok Ayuba.
Hours after he was impeached, the embattled speaker presided over plenary at Zawan Community Hall in Bukuru, Jos South LGA of the state. Twelve members of the assembly attended the sitting.
At the sitting, the suspension of six members of the parliament who were said to have spearheaded his impeachment was announced.
Briefing journalists shortly after the sitting, the Chairman, House Committee on Information, Philip Dasu, faulted the impeachment of Ayuba.
“The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria makes a clear provision for the impeachment of the speaker. It requires a 2/3 majority. We are 24 and we are supposed to have a minimum of 16 members to sign and affirm the impeachment of the speaker.
“To our greatest surprise, we were in the House today, very early in the morning when we got information that there was an attempt to impeach our speaker.
“I went and I found seven people and I was the eighth person before the rest came. We are not in agreement with what happened. The governor is a lawyer and he knows the constitution. He will not accept that illegal process, if he does, it is left for him to battle with his profession,” he said.
Daily Trust reported that Ayuba was impeached in the early hours of Thursday at the chamber of the house.
When the issue of the impeachment was tabled before the house, there was tension in the parliament.
The PDP members, who were loyal to the speaker, took the mace to prevent the impeachment but the APC members, who were in the majority, and in support of the impeachment, dragged the mace and placed it in its position, and went ahead with the process.
Moments after, Ayuba was impeached and replaced with Sanda Yakubu, who hails from Pengana Constituency of Bassa LGA of the state.
The majority leader of the assembly, Naanlong Daniel, said 16 of them signed the impeachment of the speaker.
He said there were allegations of misappropriation of funds and that the impeached speaker lacked the capacity to lead the house.
He also alleged that Ayuba refused to receive the 2022 budget of the state thrice from the executive.
The crisis:
The grudge between the governor and the speaker started soon after the killings in some parts of the state in August.
Political analysts said Ayuba’s statements and public criticisms of the governor during the crisis led to his impeachment.
All efforts to get the reaction of the speaker proved abortive as calls and SMS sent to his number were not answered.
Join Daily Trust WhatsApp Community For Quick Access To News and Happenings Around You.
