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Tag: KOGI

  • Court reinstates ‘impeached’ Kogi Speaker Lawal

    Court reinstates ‘impeached’ Kogi Speaker Lawal

    Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal High Court, Abuja yesterday ordered the reinstatement of Momoh Jimoh Lawal as the Speaker of the Kogi State House of Assembly.

    He was purportedly impeached by five members of the assembly.

    Lawal and 9 other principal members of the Assembly challenged their impeachment by a faction of the house led  by Umar  Imam on February 16, insisting that due process of the law was not followed.

     Other plaintiffs were  Aliyu Akuh (deputy speaker), Kolawole Matthew, Osiyi Godwin, Sunday Shigaba, Ndako Idris, Oluwatoyin Lawal, Musa Jimoh, Victor Omofaye and the Peoples Democratic Party.

     Imam, Friday Sani, Lawal Ahmed, Bello Abdullahi and John Abah, were listed as the  1st to 5th defendants.

    Also listed as  defendants were   the IGP, DG-DSS, Commandant Civil Defence Corps and Kogi State House of Assembly.

    Judge Dimgba ordered the 1st to 5th defendants to “Immediately vacate the different offices they now purportedly occupy by reason of the purported impeachment and removal of the Speaker and other Principal Officers.

    The judge directed the Speaker (Lawal) and the other Principal Officers (2nd to 9th plaintiffs) to immediately resume their duties in their different offices as they were never impeached and/or removed.

    Justice Dimgba also ordered the DSS, Civil Defence Corps and KSHA “to immediately restore the security details of the 1st plaintiff (Lawal) and other Principal Officers purportedly impeached or removed by the illegal acts of the 1st to 5th defendants”.

    He restrained the 7th to 9th defendants from further barricading the complex of the House of Assembly and preventing the plaintiffs from accessing the hallowed chambers of the KSHA to conduct their legal and legitimate duties as legislators validly elected to represent their various constituencies.

    The judge declared that the purported impeachment of the leadership of the House on February 16, 2016 by the 1st to 5th defendants is unconstitutional, illegal, null and void having regard to the provisions of Sections 90, 91, 92 (2)(c), 95 (1), (2) and 96 (1) (2) of the Constitution; Rule 3(1)(2) Standing Rules of the KSHA and  the proclamation of the KSHA dated February 16, duly signed by the Speaker pursuant to Rule 4(2)(3).

    He declared that the election of the 1st to 5th defendants as leaders of the House was unconstitutional, illegal, null and void.

    “A careful perusal of Chapter 5, Part 2 (Comprising Sections 90 to 129) of the Constitution does not reveal any provision that deals with the resignation of a Speaker of the House of Assembly.

    “But it is important to assert that whether or not a resignation has occurred at any material time is not an issue of law, but an issue of fact. Facts are proven by evidence, not by declaration and the rule remains that he who asserts must prove” the court stated.

    “I note that the 1st to 5th defendants have not provided any evidence before the court to buttress this claim of resignation.

    “This evidence could have been in the form of a duly authenticated record of proceedings of the KSHA of February 15, 2016 showing the resignation of the speaker and the orderly transition of power to the 1st to 5th defendants.

    “Such evidence could also be in the form of a duly authenticated resignation letter from the 1st plaintiff as speaker. All of this the 1st to 5th defendants have failed to do” the judge said.

    He dismissed the preliminary objection raised by the defendants challenging the court’s  jurisdiction.

  • Senselessness and lawlessness in Kogi

    Senselessness and lawlessness in Kogi

    LAST Monday, Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State signed the state budget into law in defiance of the National Assembly which, some three days earlier, had asked for the budget to be submitted to the national legislative body consequent upon the takeover of the functions of the Kogi State House of Assembly by the House of Representatives. It is not obvious how Kogi State officials hope to circumvent the clear provisions of the law in spending state funds not appropriated by a lawful body. But whatever steps they take subsequently will be unconstitutional, notwithstanding the Attorney General of the Federation’s creative interpretation of the constitution.
    The State House of Assembly made up of 21 members is clearly not functioning. The so-called 2016 Budget signed into law by Gov Bello was perused by a minority of state lawmakers unable to form a quorum. On February 16, five lawmakers, believed to have been instigated by the executive arm, had purportedly impeached the Speaker, Momohjimoh Lawal, who was supported by 15 lawmakers, and replaced him with Umar Imam. The ensuing inability of the state Assembly to convene and function as a legislature prompted the House of Representatives to send a 10-man panel to probe the stalemate. The result was that on March 9, the Reps took over the functions of the Kogi State House of Assembly. On March 18, the Senate concurred in the takeover to give the measure teeth.
    But in an indication of what is truly amiss in Kogi, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, had written a letter, believed to have been prompted by ulterior motives, to Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, advising him to reopen the State legislative building ordered shut by the Reps, insisting that the legislature could still function if the right legal steps were taken. The National Assembly of course took offence, but the stalemate has persisted, especially with the defiant posture of the governor himself.
    Now, there is no doubt that senselessness and lawlessness reign in Kogi State. The police have somewhat retraced their step, but the AGF is still waffling and pussyfooting. The governor feels animated by his defiance of constitutional provisions to keep up his antagonism toward the dominant faction of the state legislature. The minority lawmakers in turn recognise that federal and state powers appear inscrutably tilted towards them, making them to be further entrenched. Meanwhile, the disenfranchised majority lawmakers are groaning bitterly under the impunity of the governor and his federal backers.
    Keeping the Kogi House of Assembly sealed will neither deter the lawless behaviour of the minority lawmakers nor assuage their exuberance, for they can always pretend to lawmaking anywhere it pleases them. But it is important the House of Assembly continue to be sealed so that those affronting the law can only do so to the considerable disquiet of their consciences, assuming they have not been so stifled that their owners can’t claim any moral compass. It is also important that the House of Representatives should issue a caveat to the public, especially financial institutions, to desist from associating with state officials in respect of the so-called appropriated budget of the state. If that still does not bring the intransigent governor and the reprobate faction of the legislature to their senses, the National Assembly, functioning as the state lawmaking body, should initiate impeachment proceedings. It will have no bearing on the many election cases pending in the tribunal over the last governorship poll.
    The usurper faction in the Kogi Assembly debacle has taken frantic steps to shore up their number from the measly five that triggered the confusion in the legislature. But whatever their numerical strength is now, it does not mitigate the unlawful first acts taken by that querulous faction in embarking on the impeachment of Speaker Lawal. If the governor is too heady to understand the implication of the crisis he has engineered and encouraged, and his federal backers lack the circumspection and democratic credentials to restrain themselves, the National Assembly has a duty to enforce the law in order to prevent one deviant and fractious state from bringing the house down on everybody. It is a shame that five lawmakers claimed to have impeached a Speaker backed by 15 members. What is even more worrisome to the country is the rabblerousing by Kogi youths as they thoughtlessly swooped last week on the National Assembly to protest the sealing of the House of Assembly. Surely there is a limit to rank idiocy.

  • Kogi College gets accreditation

    The Kogi State College of Education (Technical), Kabba has been given 100 percent accreditation for its National Certificate in Education (NCE) programme.

    This was contained in a press statement that quoted a letter from the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) Abuja conveying the result of the accreditation exercise conducted last November, a copy of which was obtained by The Nation in Lokoja.

    The statement which was signed by the school’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mr. O. Yunusa, stated that the 11 programmes presented for accreditation were all approved.

    They include: Biology Education, Mathematics Education, Integrated Science And Computer Education.

    Other programmes that got the nod are Physics, Chemistry, Fine and Applied Arts, Technical Education, Agricultural Education and Physical and Health Education.

    The provost of the institution, Dr Awo Olajide Komolafe, said the feat was a testimony of hard work and dedication by the workers, and government’s support for the college.

    He added: “It is the first of its kind for a new college to achieve the feat of clinching 100 percent success in accreditation outing among colleges of education in the country”.

    The institution hosted the team from the NCCE between November 22 and 28, 2015 for the exercise.

  • Kogi heads for Supreme Court over assembly crisis

    Kogi heads for Supreme Court over assembly crisis

    •Sues National Assembly, AGF 

    Kogi State government has sought the intervention of the Supreme Court in the resolution of the crisis in the House of Assembly.

    It, in a suit filed on April 29, sought among others, an order nullifying the March 9 resolution of the House of Representatives to take over the legislative functions of the assembly.

    The suit marked: SC.340/2016, filed in the names of the Attorney-General and House of Assembly, has as defendants, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and the National Assembly.

    The plaintiffs said in their statement of claim that “the factional disagreement” between members of the House of Assembly was normal in a democracy.

    They said the crisis started on February 16, following a disagreement between two factions in the House of Assembly over the Speaker position.

    The plaintiffs noted that in the wake of the disagreement, a faction of the members of the House of Assembly filed the suit, FHC/LKJ/CS/16/16 (Kogi State House of Assembly & 3 Ors V National Assembly & 2 Ors.

    They said while the suit was pending, the House of Representatives invoked its power under Section 11(4) of the Constitution to take over the functions of the House of Assembly.

    The plaintiffs said the House of Representatives declared the impeachment proceedings embarked on by five members of the House of Assembly for the removal of the Speaker, as violating Section 92(c) of the Constitution.

    They noted that the lower legislative chamber of the National Assembly also condemned the roles played by the police in providing cover for only five members of the 20 members of the House of Assembly “to commit illegalities”.

    The plaintiffs argued that the said “disagreement” between the factions in the House of Assembly did not create any “adverse security situation” in the state.

    They added that “there is no security report by the Kwara State Governor, the police or any security agency in the country that the disagreement among members of Kogi State House of Assembly caused insecurity and danger to public safety in the state.

    “At all times material to the passage of the resolution of the National Assembly to take over Kogi State House of Assembly, Kogi State is calm and peaceful, as citizens go about their lawful business,” the plaintiffs said.

    They urged the apex court to declare that the House of Representatives’ resolution was passed in breach of Section 11(4) of the constitution.

    The plaintiffs are also seeking the following prayers:

    • A declaration that the resolution of the House of Representatives on March 9, which purportedly took over the legislative functions of the Kogi State House of Assembly, is passed in breach of Section 11(4) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).
    • An order of perpetual injunction restraining the National Assembly from interfering with or take over the legislative functions of Kogi State House of Assembly based on the resolution of the House of Representatives passed on March 9.

    None of the defendants has responded.  No date has been fixed for hearing.

  • La Campagne Tropicana moves to Kogi

    History was made recently when the ground breaking ceremony of La Campagne Tropicana River Resort Koton Karfi in Kogi State held at the resort’s site amidst celebration by the people of Koton Karfi and others in attendance.

    The new resort is to seat on 89.7 hectares stretch of land with the River Niger forming a lake across the land.

    Interestingly, just like the Lekki resort, which has the Atlantic Ocean and the lagoon with the mangrove swamp and stretch of forested land harbouring some animal habitats, the Koton Karfi resort also comes with its complete blend of natural elements such as the lake and forest area which hopefully would make the resort a distinctive natural hideaway as well.

    Speaking during the ceremony, the founder and President of La Campagne, Otunba Wanle Akinboboye, described the new venture as a new dawn and celebration of industry and successes that have been achieved in the 30 years of the existence of La Campagne in Lekki and that he hopes to replicate the same in Koton Karfi and even surpass it.

    He urged the people to embrace the resort because it is for them as it is meant to bring development to the community and open it to the international community, thereby improving on the socio- economic and cultural development of the people and the community.

  • Malami and Kogi crisis

    Malami and Kogi crisis

    After procuring an interim government for the people of Kogi State, it would seem inevitable that President Buhari’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami, SAN would go the extra mile to avail every prop to the contraption described as government strutting the Lugard House. After all, one of the established novelties about the current occupancy of the Kogi Government House is that the number one law officer, rather than the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC (certainly not the electors ) – actually helped to bring it into being by its strange ‘advisory’ of midnight substitution!

    After perusing the letter by AGF Malami addressed to the Inspector General Police, Solomon Arase on the on-going crisis in my dear state, one needed to look no further to know who the piper calling the current tunes in the state is! The hand may appear like Esau’s; there can be no doubting that the voice is that of Jacob! The masquerade, finally, has been unmasked right in the market square.

    Months after, and with the substantive issues surrounding the so-called “inconclusive” elections that brought a ‘stranger’ to the APC ticket still unresolved by the nation’s courts, Nigerians would no doubt remember that it all started from one man’s unsolicited advisory.

    They would certainly remember that on November 21, 2015 Kogi voters had trooped out to vote to elect a new governor. And also that the poll returned 240,867 votes for the APC ticket of Abubakar Audu and James Abiodun Faleke and 199,415 for Idris Wada and Yomi Awoniyi of the Peoples Democratic Party.  And then, Audu died.

    That in a rather bizarre twist to an election that was as good as concluded, a vacillating INEC had declared the poll ‘inconclusive’ AFTER an ‘advisory’ from the nation’s chief law officer, Malami.

    Yes, Malami it was that decreed the substitution of the APC ticket, letting in all manners of opportunistic developments on which the destiny of the state and its people is now hung!

    First, it was Yahya Bello – a runner up in the APC governorship primary, pronounced candidate without a running mate. Then, an Audu/Faleke ticket ordinarily seen as good to go – with 240,867 votes –later declared ‘technically’ voided. And finally a governor riding into the gubernatorial mansion with barely 6,000 votes!

    Some have argued that the AGF’s initial intervention, against the run of equity and fair-play is what has plunged the state into the current crisis. They are probably right. But then, it is the courts that have the final say on the matter. The fact however is that neither the party – APC nor the government it purportedly gave birth, have known peace ever since that intervention hence the current situation in which the state is not only at war with itself but a governing party torn right through the middle. Presently, the state lawmakers are set upon themselves with a group of five lawmakers, supported by the executive, not only driving the majority – described as G-15 – out of town, but have since assumed the functions of the whole house!

    In a new twist, APC leaders in the state went for broke penultimate week: they passed a vote of no confidence on Governor, Yahya Bello in what marks a new phase in the fratricidal war.

    It may well be that the travesty currently playing out at the Kogi State House of Assembly is nothing novel. After all, in 2009, Ogun State, under former governor Gbenga Daniel saw a group of minority lawmakers not only sack the majority, but went as far as daring them to come near the precincts of the parliament building at the risk of lives or limbs! It also happened in Ekiti, where Governor Ayodele Fayose led a group of six renegade lawmakers to sack the majority of 19 lawmakers. It played out in Rivers State, where six members with the backing of former President Goodluck Jonathan and wife, Patience, took on 27 lawmakers while purporting to remove the elected speaker, Otelemaba Amachree.

    If we thought that such travesties and barefaced impunity was gone with the PDP administration, the spectacle playing out in Kogi and the curious intervention by the AGF would seem to indicate that nothing really has changed!

    The issue is of course whether both arms of the National Assembly acted right in taking over the state House of Assembly. On this, it is expected that opinions would be divided.  However, what is not in dispute is that the state legislature was factionalised; neither is there any contention that the activities of the members had gone beyond mere legislative bickering to constituting a grave threat to the peace of the state. Or that a minority, G-5 with the active support of the police and the governor, had created a situation in which the lawmaking business could only be strictly on their terms or perhaps such other terms as dictated by the conniving but floundering executive!

    Be that as it may, AGF Malami would have us know that there was no “sufficient legal basis” for the National Assembly to have taken over the lawmaking responsibilities of the state legislature. That “sufficient legal basis”, according to him, would only happen when the entire state is on fire!

    How about the AGF’s ‘consequential order’ that “the determination by the National Assembly that the alleged impeachment of the Speaker of the House of Assembly by ‘five members of the House of Assembly’ was ‘null and void’ was an exercise of judicial power by the Legislature, contrary to Section 6 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended)…?

    I thought the courts, rather than the AGF, held the power to review the actions of the National Assembly, including the executive branch!

    Or this – that the National Assembly’s description “of the alleged action of the Nigeria Police Force in purportedly providing protection for five persons as an act that was tantamount to ‘subverting the provision of the Constitution’ as matters of constitutionality that are issues for judicial determination”?

    Interesting times indeed!

    I am not a lawyer and so cannot claim to comprehend Malami’s specious jurisprudence. What is perhaps least expected is that the nation’s chief law officer would become a facilitator of the absurdity going on in the state. But even more worrisome is that the AGF has not proven to be an uninterested party in the sordid affair that has thrown the state into limbo.

    For me, last week’s mumbo jumbo by IG Arase is an eye opener; I can’t wait for the time when the AGF finally makes his appearance before the parliament he so derided. It promises to be an interesting encounter.

     

  • 3 Osun officials kidnapped in Kogi

    Three Osun Government officials were on Friday kidnapped by gunmen on the Obajana – Lokoja road in Kogi.

    The victims were taken into a nearby bush by their abductors, while the official vehicle in which they were traveling was abandoned on the road side.

    The victims were said to be on their way from Abuja, where they had gone to represent the state.
    Mr Yakubu Usman, the Commissioner of Police in Kogi, told the News Agency of Nigeria ( NAN) on phone, that he was in Abuja to attend a conference, adding that he has not been briefed on the incident. (NAN)

  • AGF and Kogi crisis

    •The Chief Law Officer should obey the principle of separation of power

    The Attorney-General of the Federation, Alhaji Abubakar Mallami, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, has once again taken an action deemed to violate provisions of the constitution, and thus drawn the ire of members of the House of Representatives.

    Following the division in the Kogi State House of Assembly and its inability to conduct the law-making responsibility in accordance with the law, the House of Representatives sent a 10-member panel to investigate the impasse and advise the House on what should be done. The panel recommended that, in line with section 11 of the constitution, the House of Representatives should take over the law making function of the state assembly in the interest of good governance.

    Further, the House directed the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Solomon Arase, to seal off the House of Assembly Complex to forestall a breakdown of law and order as two factions of members were in open conflict.

    All attempts previously made by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and stakeholders to resolve the crisis failed. A faction loyal to Momoh Jimoh Lawal and believed to be sympathetic to the cause of James Faleke, a Representative comprises a majority of 15 of the existing 20 members. The members have however been barred from gaining access to the chamber. However, five members believed to be loyal to Governor Yahaya Bello purportedly impeached the Speaker and has been encouraged to make laws for the state.

    The political undertone is understandable, but not the intervention of the AGF in instructing the Inspector-General of Police to ignore the National Assembly’s resolution. The AGF based his position on the provision of section 11 of the constitution. The senior lawyer said the constitution only envisages a take-over when there is violence in the state.

    It is curious that the AGF volunteered his opinion uninvited on the matter. Neither the House of Representatives nor the IGP had sought his counsel. This suggests that there is more to the unsolicited legal opinion. The National Assembly has taken a strong exception to the interference and directed a 22-member ad hoc committee to look into the matter, interface with the AGF and the IGP and report to the House.

    The constitution envisages that knowledgeable, experienced and sober senior members of the Bar should hold the office of the AGF. He is not only the Chief Law Officer; he is also the legal adviser to the President. He is the Minister of Justice and is expected to put the interest of the country and professionalism above partisan consideration. This does not seem to have been the case in the Kogi logjam.

    When the crisis erupted last year, the AGF was quick to offer an opinion on what should be the line of action in deciding who should be candidate of the APC in the concluding part of the election. Despite the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) having a legal department and referring critical matters to a consortium of senior lawyers, the AGF controversially literally gave an order that enabled the APC shove aside the running mate to the late Prince Abubakar Audu, picking rather Alhaji Yahaya Bello.

    We call on President Muhammadu Buhari to caution his AGF. He should be told to act within the confines of the law and the powers of his office. At a time when there appears to be tension between the executive and legislative arms of government, the AGF should not be seen as taking actions to denigrate the lawmakers. Besides, we reiterate our position that the office of AGF should be separated from that of the Minister of Justice. As a member of the President’s cabinet, the minister might feel drawn into political consideration. The Kogi impasse should attract the attention of all men of goodwill who accept that the primary purpose of government is promotion of the welfare of the people and security of lives. The Kogi people deserve more than the AGF is offering.

  • Kogi PDP disowns Bello

    Kogi PDP disowns Bello

    The internal crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kogi State assumed another dimension yesterday, with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) distancing itself from insinuations of a certain ‘working relationship’ with Governor Yahaya Bello.

    The opposition party said it viewed “the PDP tag” earlier ascribed to the governor, by the leadership of his party, the APC, as strange and unacceptable.

    PDP in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Bode Ogunmola, dismissed as “absolutely false, totally presumptuous and comprehensively baseless”, the allegations that all 45 appointments so far made by Bello went to PDP members.

    The former ruling party noted that “though the crisis and burden of identity plaguing the incumbent APC government in Kogi State is deserving of genuine public sympathy, the APC alone has the responsibility of bearing the burden of its disunity and disjointedness.”

    According to the statement, “what amuses more is the claim that Yahaya Bello has returned power to the PDP through the appointment of PDP members. Nothing can be farther from the truth.”

     

  • Kogi crisis: ‘G-5 members are noisemakers’

    Kogi crisis: ‘G-5 members are noisemakers’

    Factional Deputy Majority leader of the Kogi State House of Assembly Sunday Shigaba has urged Nigerians to disregard Tuesday’s purported suspension of the embattled Speaker, Momoh-Jimoh Lawal and nine other lawmakers by the Umar Imam group.

    He carpeted the attorney- general of the federation (AGF) on the opinion by his office regarding the build-up to the National Assembly’s ordered closure of the Assembly, saying the AGF position vindicated their allegation that the Presidency knew about the crisis.

    Shigaba described the G-5 members as ‘noisemakers’ and enjoined people to disregard their actions, including the passage of the 2016 Appropriation Bill.