Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, has distanced himself from reports linking him to an alleged impeachment plot against the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Hyacinth Dajoh.
The Assembly on Friday moved against four of its members, suspending them for three months over claims they attempted to unseat the Speaker.
The affected lawmakers are Alfred Berger (Makurdi North), Cyril Ekong (Oju 2), Abu Umoru (Apa), and Shimawua Terna (Kyan).
Their suspension followed a motion raised by Majority Leader, Saater Tiseer, who told the House that the quartet had been mobilizing support to remove the Speaker despite a recent vote of confidence passed on both Governor Alia and Mr. Dajoh.
He described the move as “dishonourable and intended to create acrimony in the House,” before moving that the members be suspended for six months.
Seconding the motion, Elias Audu of Gwer East condemned the action and threw his weight behind the six-month suspension proposal. Majority Chief Whip, Peter Ipusu, went further, insisting that the punishment should have been stiffer.
He said that, “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 intervened, trimming down the punishment. He rejected the calls for six months, ruling instead that the members serve a three-month suspension.
“I take exception to where you said they should be suspended for six months, they sound rather be suspended for three months,” he declared, before ordering the sergeant-at-arms to escort the lawmakers out of the chamber.
