The Crisis brewing in the Kogi State House of Assembly has escalated as Operatives of the Nigerian Police have sealed off the Assembly Complex.
The State House of Assembly after being sealed off by security agents was locked and heavily guarded by armed policemen preventing entrance into the Assembly Complex.
According to news agency, The Punch’s correspondent, the road leading to the complex was also barricaded by armed policemen who subjected staff of the assembly to scrutiny and only allowed them in upon confirmation of their employment status through their Identity Cards.
The Armed security agents confirmed their actions was based on the directive of the Commissioner of Police following an order handed down from the Force’s headquarters in Abuja.
Speaking on the latest development, the Deputy to the Speaker of the state house, Mr Aliyu Akuh said the original leadership crisis plaguing the State’s house of assembly was yet unresolved.
Recall that five of the State Assembly’s members had moved for impeachment of the Speaker, Momoh-Jimoh Lawal accusing him of being incapable of handling the house and gross misconduct.
The Deputy speaker of the Kogi Assembly added that it was an aberration for five of twenty members to impeach the Speaker of the House.
He continued that; “What happened with five members seeking to impeach a speaker in a house of twenty members is an aberration, unheard of and moreso that some members’ names and signatures were forged and included as being part of them.
“We had to go to the higher authority which is the National Assembly vested with the constitutional powers to intervene in such situations. The House of Representatives ordered the seal-off and it was concurred by the Senate,” he said.
The factional speaker of the House who was dethroned due to the intervention of the National Assembly, Alhaji Umar Imam described the seal-off of the state assembly complex as illegal.
Speaking through his press secretary, the factional leader added that the National Assembly had disregarded court process as the matter was still pending in court. He added that the National Assembly had a personal vendetta and was stunting the growth of the state as all legislative businesses especially the passage of the 2016 Appropriation Bill would be affected by the seal-off.