Following the repeated impeachment saga in the Kogi State House of Assembly, Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan, reports that Governor Yahaya Bello is also walking a tight rope
The politics of Kogi State in the North Central geo-political zone of the country is still tension soaked. Within the corridors of power across the state, anxiety reigns supreme as politicians, across party lines, continue to speak in hushed tones, fuelling fears that it is nowhere near Uhuru for the troubled state.
Although members of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the State House of Assembly had come out to say they had no agenda to impeach the governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, observers of the politics of the state say their promise should not be seen as a political respite.
The Majority Leader of the House, Matthew Kolawole, had on Tuesday said it is wrong for anybody to say his faction in the House is being sponsored by Hon. James Faleke. According to him, the ongoing struggle in the legislative chamber is not about interfering in the affairs of the executive, but ensuring the independence of the legislature.
“The state governor is just like new born baby without sin. For what reason will anybody want to kill the baby. To me, the governor has not done anything wrong to us and none of us here is talking about impeachment of the governor at all”, he said.
“If anybody is saying that Faleke is sponsoring us, he is misleading the public. Faleke is not part of this struggle. The struggle we have today is that we want to stabilise Kogi State House of Assembly as an independent arm of government”, he added.
No respite yet
But reliable sources within and outside the state insist Governor Bello’s handlers shouldn’t in any way let their guards down politically as the worst is yet to be over in the crisis rocking the state.
“The crisis is far from over and it can consume anyone, even the governor. Given the hydra-headed nature of the issues at hand, Governor Bello is walking a very tight rope as far as the crisis in the House is concerned,” a source said.
A former secretary of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in the state, Daniel Otitoju, said the camp of the governor is unaware of the dangers still lurking around. According to him, all hands are on deck to ensure that the mandate given Yahaya Bello by the people of Kogi State is not thwarted in any way by forces bent on subverting democratic process.
“We hear talks of the governor and the Speaker being from the same zone. We here people are talking about balancing the positions according to zones. We hear talks about the Speaker saying he would stay put. We hear of how their political party is telling them what to do. We hear a lot of stories that point to the fact that some people may be up to something sinister,” he said.
He however added that since the leadership of the Assembly has come out to say it is not plotting a change in government, we want to take them by their words. But we can only urge the lawmakers to put the interest of the state first in whatever they want to do,” he added.
Bello’s alleged sins
The current crisis in the state was ignited when Hon. Momoh Jimoh Lawal was again allegedly impeached by his former supporters as Speaker of the House. It was the second time the embattled speaker would be impeached in the last two months.
He was earlier announced impeached last December by 17 members out of the 25 members of the Assembly. However, he denied being impeached and carried on as the speaker following the intervention of PDP national secretariat.
The latest impeachment, which again has been quashed by the National Assembly, saw the emergence of Imam Umar as the new speaker.
Jimoh accused Governor Yahaya Bello of conniving with five members of the Assembly to remove him from office.
“To be candid, the executive is behind this; when the Deputy Governor invited some of our members to impeach the Speaker, we said we are not going, and then he spoke with some people who agreed.
“There was no sitting; they went into the Assembly and came out and addressed press that they have impeached the Speaker and other principal officers and announced those who will occupy the positions.
“What we saw the next minute was removal of the speaker’s security on our way to Abuja, they took a towing van to his house and removed the official vehicle, “he said.
Also, the deputy governorship candidate of the APC, in the November 21, governorship election in Kogi State, Mr. James Abiodun Faleke, accused Governor Bello of being behind the impeachment of Speaker of the state Assembly, Momoh Jimoh Lawal, by five members of the House.
Faleke, who condemned the impeachment, described it “as another illegality sponsored by the illegal government of Bello.”
Denial
But the governor disassociated himself from the impeachment of the speaker, Momoh Jimoh Lawal, noting that he has never interfered in the affairs of the state legislature in line with his determination to promote the rule of law and strict adherence to separation of power.
In a statement by his Special Adviser (Media and Strategy), Abdulkarim Abdulmalik, the governor said dragging his name to the crisis in the State House of Assembly is in the least, uncharitable.
“To drag the name of the governor to the crisis in the Kogi State House of Assembly is in the least, uncharitable. The crisis in the House of Assembly predates the present administration in the state.
“It would be recalled that before the advent of the present administration, the Assembly crisis assumed a violent dimension when vehicles belonging to the different caucuses in the House were vandalized.
“The governor urges all aggrieved parties in the Kogi State House of Assembly to close ranks and work in unity for the progress of the state. He also pledges continued collaboration with the legislative arm to actualize his dream of a better Kogi State,” the statement said.
Anxiety as PDP intervenes
The national leadership of the PDP, according to some sources, may have decided to keenly follow the unfolding drama in the confluence state, with a view to ensuring that the interest of the party, which has the majority in the House of Assembly, is protected.
Speaking on the outcome of members’ meeting with the National Chairman of PDP, Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff, Kolawole said they agreed with the party’s directive that the status quo should remain.
“We have passed another vote of confidence on the leadership of the House under Speaker Momoh Jimoh-Lawal and all of us have signed.”
He added that Hon. John Aba, one of the five members who had the intention to impeach Jimoh-Lawal was also present at the meeting. He, however, said that Aba was yet to sign the resolution of the meeting, adding that he stepped out after the meeting.
“So far so good, eleven of us here have signed. We are waiting for him to come back because the party has directed that we sign and he agreed.” The Majority Leader said that maintaining status quo under the leadership of Jimoh-Lawal was temporary in order to resolve the crisis on ground.
There are fears that following the soft landing given the Jimoh-led leadership of the House by the National Assembly, the PDP may have decided to move against the governor to teach him a political lesson.
“It is not our desire to create confusion in the state. Don’t also forget that we are in court challenging the emergence of this government. We are optimistic that soon, the PDP will return to govern this state legitimately. So, we have no reason to want the governor impeached.
However, given the penchant of this governor to go after our people for no just cause and our fear that if he is not curtailed, he may decimate our membership of the House of Assembly in no time, we may be compelled to seek a political solution to the menace he is fast becoming,” a chieftain of the PDP said in Lokoja.
