In another twist to the crisis in the Plateau State House of Assembly, Speaker of the Assembly, last Friday, swore in nine out of the embattled 16 All Progressives Congress (APC), leaving out seven, without any giving reasons. ISAAC SHOBAYO, in this piece, writes on the undercurrents and unending drama in the Assembly.
The prolonged crisis rocking the Plateau State House of Assembly turned dramatic last Friday, when the Assembly that has been recalcitrant in swearing in the embattled 16 All Progressives Congress (APC), affirmed by the Court of Appeal, suddenly made a U-turn and swore in nine, leaving out seven without any justifiable reason.
The development was a rude shock to the seven who had been in limbo for months. The sacked 16 lawmakers elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) recently approached the appellant Court of Appeal for a review of the judgment against them. However, the matter was dismissed by the court which awarded a cost against them.
All entreaties, both at the state and federal levels, to the Speaker of the eight-member Assembly, Honourable Gabriel Dewan, to swear in the 16 APC members were to no avail. The speaker repeatedly explained that he was handicapped to swear in the 16 due to a court injunction obtained by the Labour Party (LP) restraining him from doing so.
To the chagrin of many, the speaker, at the emergency plenary of the House on Friday, swore in nine, without offering reasons why the remaining seven were left out. When approached by newsmen after the plenary, Speaker Dewan, debunked the insinuation of a crisis in the House, stating that the nine members were sworn in because they met the criteria spelt out for them. But he declined to list the criteria.
The twist sparked another round of controversies in many quarters in the state. It was learnt that the sudden u-turn by the speaker to swear in the members was as a result of pressure and entreaties from the presidency and other notable stakeholders in Plateau. It could not be confirmed if there was a caveat in the compromise that only nine of the 16 should be sworn in.
Another question being asked by political observers in the state is, why did the nine abandon the position of the party, which had earlier gotten wind of what might likely transpire and consequently warned its members against taking any contrary decision that might seal their political future?
One of the seven not sworn in, who spoke on condition of anonymity, alleged that the executive arm of government and the Speaker insisted that the affected lawmakers should sign an undertaking before they would be sworn in, adding that the conditions attached were so stringent and arm twisting.
According to him, parts of the conditions include: the sixteen members must agree to the passing of the bill extending the tenure of the Transition Implementation members; acceptance of the Speaker, who is a YPP member, as the Speaker; and no attempt to initiate any impeachment proceedings against the governor, among others.
A source further stated that seven backed out at the point of signing, while nine were alleged to have appended their signatures to the agreement. It was further learned that nine went contrary to the decision of the party on the premise that stakeholders of the APC in the state abandoned them during their trying moment. But to the contrary, it was assumed that the party stood with them and was responsible for their wellbeing and legal fees throughout the period they were in court.
It is also being speculated that the seven left out of the swearing-in are considered to be hardliners and staunch members of the APC who would not compromise the position of the party at any time. Out of the seven, there are former Speaker of the House Yakubu Sanda and former Majority Leader Na’anlong Daniel. It is rumored that they were shut out for fear of the unknown.
Worried by the sudden political development, despite early warning of an impending political landmine, the state APC Chairman, Mr Rufus Bature, said he was taken aback by the action. He narrated that the 16 of them had earlier been warned when it was obvious that they would be sworn in as a result of pressures on the governor.
However, Bature expressed surprise that, despite the early warning, nine out of the 16 could succumb to the political pressure and antics of the PDP-led government in the state, saying that the nine that were sworn in were those who cooperated and played along, while those who refused were left out of the swearing in.
“When we made an inquiry about the form they signed, it was discovered that in the case of any breach of the constitution by the governor, they would not impeach him. Also, they must agree to the extension of the tenure of the local government transition committee chairmen as directed by the governor.
“To the surprise of everyone, this morning we were informed that nine members slept at the governor’s house, and by 7:00 am, they were sworn in, and they also agreed on the nomination of the principal officers of the house as directed by the governor.”
Bature, who said there was no basis for the swearing of nine of the sixteen members as directed by the Court of Appeal, added that it was an abuse of office and a complete turnaround of democratic norms.
The State Commissioner of Information and Communications, Mr Musa Ashoms, dismissed the involvement of Governor Caleb Muftwang in the saga, saying what transpired on the floor of the House was strictly an affair of the House, adding that the governor had no input in any guise. “Anyone who knows the workings of the legislature will know that the House of Assembly is an independent body. The governor cannot write a script for the House. If there is a script that has been written, it should be for the author. And if they are armed with this kind of information, what do they do with it? They have members who had been members before now in the House; what were they doing? So whatever is happening to them, they should blame themselves. I can tell you that the governor has no hand in this.
“The House is independent; we woke up this morning only to see what they had done. The governor has no link to this; the House is an independent body; they only came to introduce the new members and the principal officers to the governor, which is the usual practice,” he said.
Another poser in the ongoing drama in the Assembly is: how will it be possible for the PDP to have its way in a house dominated by the APC? Before now, the House had eight members, and five of them were APC lawmakers. Besides, how did a YPP member become speaker under these circumstances without any objection from the majority? A prominent APC stakeholder in the state who did not want his name in print, declared:”It is unfortunate that the long night of legal struggle could end this way. We should not be surprised that these nine APC members are simply looking for an opportunity to decamp to the PDP.”
However, with the present arrangement, the political equation of the state has been altered, and the southern zone has been left out of the age-long political setting that is anchored on zoning. At the moment, both the governor and speaker are from the Central Senatorial District, while the deputy governor is from the northern part of the state. Consequently, a group christened “Plateau Professionals” called on Governor Muftwang to address the lopsidedness and give an equal sense of belonging to the three senatorial districts in the state.
Meanwhile, another albatross hanging on the House is the issue of 13 candidates of the Labour Party for the State House of Assembly election whose names and party logo were omitted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and a judgment that INEC should include their names and logo, which the Commission did not comply with before the election. It was learnt that the 13 candidates have gone to court again and threatened that they would not back out until INEC did the needful by ordering another election with their full participation.
The spokesperson for the candidates, Honourable Henry Yunkwap of Shendam Constituency, said: “We feel surprised, which is why we are dragging it with INEC. The commission didn’t do well for us, despite the court order. INEC is being disrespectful to the court; this is contempt of court. Either the INEC conducts another election or faces contempt of court. We want justice and fairness to be done; this is against democracy. We are appealing for justice to be done to the 13 constituencies of the Labour Party that were disenfranchised by the Independent National Electoral Commission. Already, we have two judgments against INEC.”
Meanwhile, there is no respite for Plateau Assembly, as the seven APC members are equally threatening a court action for not being sworn in.
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