Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State has distanced himself from an alleged plot to remove the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Mr. Hyacinth Dajoh.
His denial comes after four lawmakers — Alfred Berger (Makurdi North), Cyril Ekong (Oju 2), Abu Umoru (Apa), and Shimawua Terna (Kyan) — were suspended for three months during Friday’s plenary for allegedly spearheading moves to impeach the Speaker.
The suspension followed a motion by the Majority Leader, Saater Tiseer, who told the House that the lawmakers had secretly mobilised colleagues to unseat the Speaker despite a recent vote of confidence passed on both Dajoh and Governor Alia.
Describing their conduct as “dishonourable and intended to create acrimony in the House,” Tiseer moved that they be suspended for six months.
Supporting the motion, Elias Audu, who represents Gwer East, said the four members deserved the punishment, while Chief Whip Peter Ipusu insisted that if he had his way, they would be suspended for one year.
Condemning their actions, Ipusu said: “All our actions and our deeds have consequences. If somebody pulls a trigger at you and fails, it is better you kill the person before he gets an opportunity to do it again. I feel so pained that a member of the leadership of the tenth Assembly would be nursing the ambition of becoming a Speaker when there is no problem in this House. He knew what he was doing. If he had succeeded, today he would have been sitting up there as the Speaker. He failed, he has no basis to remain in this House in the next six months. I want to support that motion wholeheartedly.”
However, Speaker Dajoh ruled against a six-month suspension, opting instead for three months. “I take exception to where you said they should be suspended for six months, they sound rather be suspended for three months,” he said, before ordering the Sergeant-at-Arms to escort the affected lawmakers out of the chambers.