Governors Hyacinth Alia of Benue State and Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State were conspicuously absent on Thursday as they failed to honour invitations from the House of Representatives’ Public Petitions Committee.
The summons followed a petition submitted on March 27, 2025, by Enhenseken Samoe, representing the civil society group Guardians of Rule of Law and Democracy.
The petition accuses the two governors and the leadership of their respective state assemblies of orchestrating the suspension of lawmakers in a manner deemed unconstitutional, thereby paralyzing legislative activities.
The group has urged the National Assembly to exercise its powers under Section 11 of the 1999 Constitution to take over the legislative functions in both states.
In Zamfara, tensions have escalated since February 2024, when the State House of Assembly suspended ten lawmakers,four from the All Progressives Congress and six from the Peoples Democratic Party, over allegations of conducting an illegal plenary session. The crisis deepened as two lawmakers, Bilyaminu Moriki and Bashar Gummi (representing Gummi I Constituency), continue to dispute the role of Speaker.
A faction led by Gummi staged a separate sitting and declared Moriki impeached. In response, the Moriki-led group suspended ten pro-Gummi legislators, labeling the rival session as illegitimate.
Meanwhile, in Benue State, 13 lawmakers were suspended for three months after they reportedly resisted the move to sack the state’s chief judge, Maurice Ikpambese, on allegations of corruption and gross misconduct.
At Thursday’s hearing, legal counsel for the petitioners, Enhenseken Samoe, pointed to established judicial precedent to back their case.
“Our petition is founded on established precedents,” he said. “No House of Assembly has the jurisdiction to suspend a sitting member for more than 14 days — anything beyond that is unconstitutional.”
Samoe also raised concerns over the governors’ dismissal of the National Assembly’s authority.
“The state governments had outrightly rejected the National Assembly’s authority to summon them, insisting such invitations lack constitutional backing,” he noted.
Frustration was evident among some of the suspended lawmakers, particularly from Zamfara.
“Before we came here, we were informed that neither the governors nor the assemblies would appear. One of them even boasted in writing that nothing would come of this process,” one member lamented during the session.
However, the committee faced a procedural setback. Deputy Chairman Matthew Nwogu, standing in following a leadership reshuffle, questioned whether the petition had been formally presented to the House plenary, which is a prerequisite for the committee to proceed.
“I have the paper here,” he said, “but there is no House stamp on it. Until we confirm the petition was duly laid before the House and referred to this committee, we cannot proceed legitimately.”
Despite Samoe’s insistence that proper procedures had been followed, the committee resolved to verify the petition’s status.
“The former chairman of the committee will have to sit with the new chairman and brief us on what he knows about this issue; then, after, we will know what next steps to take.”
The newly appointed committee chairman, Hon. Kwamoti Bitrus Laori, although not presiding at the session, urged all parties to remain calm and adhere to due process. “Please, let us follow due process,” he said. “This matter is emotional, but we cannot let feelings override constitutional procedures.”
The committee reaffirmed that proceedings would not be stalled by the absence of key individuals but stressed the importance of strictly following constitutional steps, especially if the House moves to invoke Section 11 powers.
A new hearing date has been fixed for May 14, 2025, with expectations that all involved parties will appear.