Kogi State's House of Assembly has been embroiled in turmoil over recent weeks and last Thursday, a group of legislators secured an Abuja court ruling overturning the purported impeachment of its speaker. Split into two bodies made up one known as the G15, led by the embattled speaker, Hon Momoh-Jimoh Lawal, the Kogi State House of Assembly has an opposition group called the G5.
A group of five lawmakers who operate on the platform of the G5, had announced the impeachment of Hon Lawal, who had the backing of 14 lawmakers. However, an Abuja high court had ruled that the impeachment of Hon Lawal as the speaker was null and void.
With the bitter dispute in full flow, soldiers numbering 15 got to the assembly complex in a truck as early as 6am yesterday and took over the gate and the road leading to the parliament. Journalists, who arrived at the assembly to cover proceedings, were turned back by the soldiers who also dislodged the riot policemen, who had manned the facility's gate since last week.
Matthew Kolawole, a spokesperson for the G15, said his group was shocked to discover that soldiers from the Army Records Unit, Kogi, had barricaded the assembly’s gate. He said gunmen in two vans had stormed the Kogi legislative quarters in the midnight of Monday and shot repeatedly into the air in order to intimidate the members of the G15.
However, the special adviser to the state governor on media and strategy, Alhaji Abdulkareem Abdulmalik, denied government’s involvement in the crisis besetting the assembly. He added that the security men were there to prevent a breakdown of law and other.
Also, the Kogi State Commissioner of Police Yakubu Usman, said he withdrew his men in order to prevent a clash that might result in the loss of lives. Meanwhile, the Kogi State Independent Electoral Commission has been called upon to conduct a supplementary election in Idah and Ofu local government areas, where elections had been declared inconclusive.
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