Plateau State is gripped by tension as the current Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Honourable Gabriel Dewan, insists on adjourning the House sitting until January next year. This decision raises concerns, especially in light of the imminent inauguration of the newly declared 16 All Progressives Congress (APC) members scheduled for this week.
Dewan asserts that the newly declared members are not officially part of the assembly until they present their Certificate of Return issued by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) through the office of the clerk of the Assembly. He emphasizes that their recognition as bona fide members is contingent upon adhering to this procedural requirement.
In response, the state chapter of the APC swiftly rebuts Dewan’s stance, emphasizing that the Assembly is not the personal property of the speaker. This spontaneous reaction underscores the growing tension between the speaker and the APC, revealing a broader disagreement over the procedural aspects of integrating the newly declared members into the assembly.
The backdrop to this controversy lies in the recent decision by the Court of Appeal Abuja Division, which nullified the election of 16 members of the Assembly elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The court cited a lack of political structure and alleged disobedience to a court order as reasons for the sack.
It is noteworthy that Dewan, the sole member elected on the platform of the Young Progressive Party (YPP), assumed the position of speaker amid the upheaval caused by the court’s decision to remove PDP lawmakers.
