Plateau Assembly divided over court reinstatement of impeached Speaker, Ayuba

Legislators at the Plateau House of Assembly have remained divided over the reinstatement of the impeached former Speaker, Abok Ayuba, by a court in the state, Monday.

State High Court in Jos had in its ruling, earlier Monday, ordered the immediate reinstatement of Hon. Abok Ayuba as Speaker of the 9^th Plateau House of Assembly.

It would be recalled that Ayuba was impeached on Thursday, October 28 by members of the state legislature in the heat of the crisis which rocked the house, that year following the impeached speaker’s disagreement with state Governor Simon Lalong.

16 out of the 24 members of the assembly, had earlier passed a vote of no-confidence, and followed up with a voice vote in favour of the impeachment of Ayuba of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), despite strong opposition by the outnumbered members of the minority Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who had backed the sacked speaker.

In a bid to prevent the already planned impeachment process from commencing on the fateful day, PDP members in the House, seized the mace. However, their attempt only led to a mild commotion as members of the APC retrieved the object from them and proceeded with the process.

Ayuba had fallen out with Governor Simon Lalong over the worsening security situation in the state, especially recent attacks at Yelwa Zangam, as the then speaker accused the Governor Lalong of not doing enough to address the security challenges in Plateau, a position also shared by House members of the PDP.

In protest, Ayuba then boycotted state government’s public functions.

Ayuba was replaced by Yakubu Yakson Sanda, who currently occupies the seat.

Ayuba, however, challenged his impeachment which he described as illegal, saying that it contravened the rules of the assembly.

Presiding Judge, Justice Nefisa Musa, who delivered the judgment on Monday, granted the plaintiff’s prayers.

Justice Musa said that the procedure adopted for the removal of Ayuba was illegal.

Ayuba, who went from the court straight to Assembly Complex, said that he was vindicated from the illegal impeachment.

He thanked Plateau people for standing by him during his travails.

“I and my honourable colleagues, today we give God the glory once again for this victory for democracy in Nigeria once again.

“We are here in the premises of the House of Assembly because all of us were elected to represent our various constituencies.

“We still have some months left for us to continue the assignment that was duly given to us by our various constituencies.

“Even though there was crisis sometimes ago, but today the court has given these terms against that illegality that was done,” he said.

The reinstated speaker said that by the grace of God, sitting would continue in the house peacefully, without any rancour.

Ayuba said that they would not fight anybody, adding that they were all members of the assembly and that all were Plateau people and also Nigerians.

According to him, they would work together for the betterment of Plateau and Nigeria.

“I’m ready to work with the executive, we have never in any way said that I would never want to continue to work with them. That is the only thing that will give us peace in this state.

“Anybody that was in court today (Monday) knows that the court has defined everything about the purported impeachment,” he added.

Meanwhile, with less than two months to end of the 9^th assembly in the state on May 29, chairman of the Plateau State House of Assembly Committee on Information, Daniel Nanlong, has insisted that there is no vacancy for Ayuba.

According to Nanlong, ‘even if there is any judgement to that effect, the House has the right to appeal the judgement and also get a stay of execution.’

Hon. Nanlong told a news conference that while the house has confidence in the judiciary and the nation’s democracy, ‘there could not be two captains on a ship.’

According to him, there is no vacuum in the headship of the assembly as Mr Yakubu Sanda remains the speaker of the House of Assembly.

“To the best of my knowledge, the house has not been served any court judgement.

“Even if there is any judgement to that effect, the House has the right to appeal the judgement and also get a stay of execution.’’

However, also reacting, some house members expressed joy that the court reinstated Ayuba as the speaker of the House of Assembly.

Gwottson Fom (PDP-Jos South) said he was delighted that the reinstated speaker and his supporters went to court to challenge the impeachment even in the face of all forms of intimidation.

“Our tour allowances were stopped, but we didn’t budge, and we have been vindicated,” he said.

Also, Timothy Dantong (PDP-Riyom) described the reinstatement of Ayuba as the speaker as freedom for democracy in Nigeria and Plateau State.

According to Dantong, the judgement showed the house that it must respect the laws it made.