Kogi Assembly resolves crisis, endorses new leaders

THE five-week old crisis plaguing the Kogi State House of Assembly was finally resolved Tuesday as the former Speaker, Abdullahi Bello, tendered his letter of resignation as the head of the legislative arm of government.

According to a statement, the 25-member House also officially endorsed the election of Momoh Jimoh Lawal, representing Okene II Constituency, as the new Speaker.

For the first time since the crisis broke out on October 17, 2012, following Bello’s impeachment, 24 members attended yesterday’s sitting with the former Speaker who said he resigned for personal reasons. In a unanimous motion read by the Deputy Speaker, Emmanuel Omebije, representing Okura District, the House formally resolved on a new leadership consisting of Lawal (Speaker), Emmanuel Omebije (Deputy Speaker), Yakubu Yinusa (Majority Leader), Suleiman Babadoko (Chief Whip), Habibat Muhammed Deen (Deputy Chief Whip) and Abidemi Adeyemi (Minority Whip).

Three principal officers impeached alongside Bello were returned, namely Yinusa, Omebije and Adeyemi. Sheidu Akawu Salihu, the Chief Whip during Bello’s leadership, who moved the motion for Lawal’s election as Speaker, resigned on the floor of the House and was immediately replaced by Babadoko. Deen, the lone female member of the House replaced, Yinusa Olofu as Deputy Chief Whip.

The lawmakers arrived the Government House after their sitting at about 12:13 pm, led by the Speaker, where they paid a courtesy call on the governor in his office. The new speaker, in his address, assured the governor that the crisis in the House had been resolved among members and that the legislative arm looked forward to cooperating with the executive to move the state forward.

Majority Leader, Yinusa, said the new leadership emerged following a resolution of the House for the sake of progress and peace in the state. He said the way the House handled the crisis was an evidence that it could hold itself without external influence.

Governor Idris Wada who described the development as “a new dawn” and “significant progress in the transformation process in Kogi State”, urged the legislators to put behind them whatever differences they had during the crisis so that the state can moved ahead. He thanked those that mediated in the crisis among the assembly members, including former Governor Ibrahim Idris, President Goodluck Jonathan, Senate President and Members, House of Representatives.

“I am glad that you have on your own buried the hatchet. Kogi is in a hurry to move forward after all that we have lost in the past few weeks”, he said, adding that he looked forward to working together with the lawmakers for speedy development of the state.