Kogi state impeach speaker

The political impasse in Kogi state has
taken a new dimension as 17 members
on Thursday impeached the Speaker of
the State House of Assembly, Momoh
Jimoh Lawal
Other principal officers that were also
impeached included the deputy speaker,
Ali Akuh and the minority leader,
Hassan Bello at their plenary held on the
floor of the house.
The members elected Osiyi Ojo
representing Ogori/Magongo state
constituency as the new speaker, John
Abah from Ibaji state constituency, who
is also the Chairman House Committee
on Information and Orientation was
elected as the new deputy speaker, while
Linus Enenche was elected as the new
minority leader.
The members converged immediately at
the press centre of the Nigeria Union of
Journalists (NUJ), Lokoja, the state capital
where they told journalists that the three
principal officers had been removed
from office.
Abah, who spoke on behalf of the
members, said the Speaker was
impeached as he had failed to give
adequate leadership to the house.
According to him they adjourned the
house sitting till 16th December, 2015.
He said the motion for impeachment was
moved by Henry Ukubile Ochijenu-
Acharu of Idah constituency and
seconded by Umar Iman of Kogi state
constituency.
He said members had been tolerating the
situation since the coming of the eighth
assembly in the state but had to take the
step in order to salvage the legislative
arm of government and the entire state.
According to him, seventeen members of
the assembly agreed to remove Jimoh
and others when it was obvious that they
lacked the capacity to lead the assembly.
He said, “Today, we seventeen members
having consider the activities of the
former speaker; we discovered that he is
not competent; he is greedy; he is
clueless and lacks administrative
capacity. He cannot lead us as members
of the house. He does not meet our
expectations. He cannot represent us
before the governor, so he stands
removed”.
While speaking, the new speaker said his
appointment had nothing to do with the
results of the last governorship election
in the state, saying the former speaker
was removed because he was grossly
incompetent and could not lead the
house.
He said the leadership style of Jimoh had
led to agitations among members with
some of them resolving to impeach the
governor with the belief that it was the
governor that was not alive to their
plight.
Ojo said, “It is unfortunate that we
found ourselves in this situation. We had
a speaker that is grossly incompetent,
greedy and lacking in capacity to lead
the house. His lack of managerial
acumen has led to some members
collecting signatures that they want to
remove the governor.
“The development had nothing to do
with the position taken by the governor-
elect, the person removed is from Kogi
Central. I am from Kogi Central and the
governor is from Kogi Central”.