The Speaker of the Plateau State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Abok Ayuba was on Thursday impeached by 8 out of the 24 members of the House.
This occurred at an unusual sitting presided over by the Deputy Speaker of the House, Hon. Saleh Yipmong.
Hon. Yakubu Sanda representing Pengana Constituency is now the new Speaker.
Recall the Speaker has been under fire since the unrest that bedeviled some communities in Jos North and Bassa LGA, where several people were killed, many injured and others displaced from their ancestral homes.
The House of Assembly had given the Governor of the State a two-week ultimatum to take action on the resolutions forwarded to him on “security matters and how to restore peace in the State.”
The House also called on the Governor to come up with a statement defending the citizenry in the wake of the myriad of security challenges bedeviling the State.
But on Thursday, the eight members gained access to the House as early as 6am to carry out the act.
They operated under the heavy presence of armed security personnel.
The lawmakers attempted to impeach the Speaker on Wednesday night but could not succeed.
Hon. Nanbol Daniel, (PDP, Langtang North Central) said that the impeachment would not hold because it did not follow the House rules on impeachment of speaker and deputy speaker.
Earlier there was petition making the rounds on social media in the early hours of Wednesday by a group under the aegis of Youths Rights Against Corruption (YRAC) accusing the Speaker of corruption.
YRAC said it has submitted a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against the Speaker, accusing him of several allegations, including abuse of office and financial misappropriation.
The group also demanded that the Speaker should immediately step down from his position pending the completion of investigation.
Executive Director, YRAC, Comrade Abednego Musa, signed the petition titled: “Petition Against Plateau State House of Assembly Speaker, Nuhu Abok Ayuba, On Gross Financial Misconduct, Criminal Breach Of Public Trust And Abuse Of Office”.
The lawmaker representing Rukuba/Irigwe constituency in the state House of Assembly, Musa Agah who confirmed the development in Jos on Thursday described the action of the lawmakers as “the height of illegality”
Explaining how the Speaker was removed, Agah said, “It was this morning (Thursday) that some few members rushed to the Plateau state House of Assembly as early as 6 am. You know the state House of Assembly is made up of 24 members and the constitutional requirement for the removal of the Speaker is 2/3 majority which is 16 members.
“So, eight lawmakers rushed to the Assembly this morning against the House rules that say that plenary commences from 9 am and even if there is going to be an extraordinary sitting, the Speaker is the one who is empowered to convene but that did not happen. When some of us got wind of what was happening, we rushed to the Assembly complex only to discover that Security operatives had barricaded everywhere. Some of us were stopped from gaining access to the Assembly complex while they also harassed others.
“While the confusion was going on, the eight members said they have passed a vote of no confidence on the Speaker and went ahead to purportedly remove the speaker.”
The embattled Speaker is yet to respond to the development.
Abok, a first-term lawmaker represents Jos East state constituency.
