Kogi House Majority leader Impeached

THE crisis rocking Kogi State House of Assembly has taken another twist as the factional group and it’s speaker were absent at a seating Tuesday when the majority leader was impeached even as Governor Idris Wada presented the 2016 Budget proposal to 10 members.

Though one of those in the Godwin Osuyi led faction representing Lokoja 2 surprisingly showed up at the presentation, the chief whip of the House, Honorable Friday Makama said the 10 members formed the needed quorum

He said the impeachment of the embattled Speaker Momoh Jimoh Lawal was inconclusive. “This is a season of inconclusiveness where so many things are inconclusive. Even Governor Idris Wada administration was described as inconclusive on the floor of the house.
“You can see how I moved a motion for the replacement if the majority leader who I would say was not sensitive to the people of Kogi State, because you cannot pretend to be ignorant of a very major event of this magnitude that has to do with the last budget presentation of the first tenure of an administration of a Governor.”

Makama said if the former majority leader does not have regards for the Governor he must have regards for the people that elected him to represent them in the hallowed chamber.

He said he moved for his replacement to avoid the situation of inconclusive budget presentation. “I had to move the motion to confirm Honorable Sunday Chudoba as the majority leader not in acting capacity in the absence of the majority leader. We would not call it an impeachment but a replacement since he was missing in action he had to be replaced.”

According to him, the replacement was by the resolution of the House adding that as it is at the moment he cannot come in as a majority leader again except the hallowed chamber reverses itself just like the decision of the Supreme Court. He described the Budget as that of reality.

In a swift reaction the factional Speaker Godwin Osiyi described the action of his colleagues as being very absurd to swap the position of the majority leader for another person.
“To remove the majority leader you need simple majority but simple majority in a House of 25 members mean 13, but were there 13 members seated today? That should tell you that these people are just crazy living with some level of insanity.”

He accused the Governor of being the architect of the crisis for hobnobbing with the embattled Speaker’s group that he described as few disgruntled elements.

He said time would tell on their effort to bring sanity to the House adding that they would be vindicated. “If you believe in sanity, if you believe in fines, if you believe in things being done in the right way this will survive with time.

He said quorum was a relative term explaining further that there is an arm of the legislative chamber that is called hazard department that takes their minutes who though not politicians were drafted into their issue when they were supposed to be on strike.
“They are not politicians, were they at work and if they were they were flaunting the NLC rules that asked them to down tool so you can see that one illegality is begetting another illegality.”

According to him, “We are supposed to be 25 Honourable members, majority are on my side and they were absent and yet budget was presented, well Wada is the Governor and he has presented his budget to where he wanted to present it so let us wait and see.

He said he will continue to toe the line of civility adding that he will not go round breaking Peoples cars, saying he will not go out visiting mayhem on human beings.
Osuyi said People that are engaging in mayhem are getting patronage, stressing that “something is wrong somewhere.”