—Kogi State government has expressed regret over the manner the state Assembly crisis had been hyped, saying the issue was being blown out of proportion by media practitioners.
The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Kingsley Fanwo, who spoke on behalf of the government in Lokoja yesterday, said media reports on the Assembly was at variance with the reality on ground, insisting that the House had been sitting peacefully and doing its legislative business.
The government statement is coming on the heels of suspension of embattled speaker of the House, Momohjimoh Lawal and nine others, by the Umar Imam-led faction. Fanwo said:
“What happened in the Kogi State House of Assembly is not exogenous. It may be connected with the lack of trust in the leadership of the Assembly at the time. The grouse of the members was well spelt out by the members which resulted in the tussle for the soul of the Assembly.
“The media should start rating the current speaker on whether he is delivering, on whether he has capacity and whether he has been discharging his responsibilities with leadership. It is high time we vacated the hype and face the realities on ground in the state.
However, the factional speaker, Umar Imam, on Tuesday suspended 10 members of the House for alleged involvement in the leadership crisis rocking the legislative assembly since November last year.
The suspension order issued on the floor of the house at plenary, followed adoption of a report of the ad-hoc committee commissioned on March 10 to investigate the crisis and involvement of the National Assembly and its failure to ensure due process, even at the instance of a court injunction.
The 10 members were accused of having persistently fuelled the crisis and preventing the House from resolving the leadership impasse peacefully for it to do its constitutional responsibilities.
“The Assembly reports should not bleach out the good work this administration is doing in the areas of infrastructure development, staff verification and the investments drive which is already yielding results.
“The courage to confront the hydra- headed ghost workers in the state has received encomiums from within and outside the state. The village man who has no access to good water now knows the resources which would have been used for that was going into the deep pockets of ghost workers.
The youths who have not been able to secure job opportunities now know what its depriving them jobs. “After the screening, sanity and credibility will return to our payrolls and the government will have some resources for infrastructure and empowerment.
The governor has started on a good note”. The committee, therefore, recommended that all legal processes instituted in various courts be exhaustively determined to ensure due process, rule of law and Justice to all parties.
It also recommended that further deliberation on the action of the National Assembly would be tantamount to prejudice and urged the state assembly to restrain itself from engaging the National Assembly on the matter further.
The committee equally urged that the 10 members indicted be suspended from sitting. 12 0
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