Kogi assembly members refute alleged plan to impeach speaker

Members of Kogi state House of Assembly on Tuesday clarified that they never plan to impeach the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Rt. Honourable Prince Matthew Kolawole.

The assembly members distanced themselves from the alleged signatures collected to impeach the Speaker.

The position of the lawmakers is coming a few days after the suspended former Deputy Speaker, Hon. Ahmed Mohammed representing (Ankpa I) and two other former principal officers, Hon. Bello Hassan Abdullahi (Ajaokuta), and Moses Odoo, (Dekina/Biraidu) came up with a letter that Prince Mathew Kolawole has been impeached as Speaker of Kogi State House of Assembly over alleged financial impropriety, high-handedness, serial abuse of office, refusal to abide by the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended

The Lawmakers who made this known during the House plenary said they collected signatures to pass a vote of confidence on Governor Yahaya Bello Presidential ambition and not to impeach the Speaker.

Lawmakers who took turns to speak during the House sitting presided by the Speaker, Prince Mathew Kolawole recalled that on 13th May 2022, members unanimously agreed to support Governor Yahaya Bello Presidential ambition and not to impeach the speaker.

The three lawmakers; Hon. Ahmed Ahmed, Hon. Abdullahi Bello and Hon. Moses Ododo were accused of using the signatures of members meant to pass confidence votes on Gov. Yahaya Bello during his Presidential aspiration for other purposes, describing it as a forgery.

Speaking individually, the members said the signatures as contained in the purported impeachment notice said to have been served to the speaker, Kogi State House of Assembly, Rt, Hon. Matthew Kolawole were signatures meant to pass a vote of confidence on Gov. Yahaya Bello during his aspiration to be the nation’s President.

Those whose signatures were contained in the purported impeachment notice all disclosed that their signatures were aimed at supporting the Presidential aspiration of Gov. Yahaya Bello before the primary.

The members said the signature was supposed to be a communique issued to show members’ confidence in Gov. Bello’s ability to preside over the country.

According to them, the House held a meeting in Abuja where they unanimously agreed to support the Presidential aspiration of Gov. Yahaya Bello, lamented that the former Deputy Speaker and Majority Leader, Deputy Chief Whip who headed the communique drafting committee could use the signatures as a tool for impeachment.

The House described the actions of the former Principal Officers as a shame, urging them to do an apology letter to the House despite being on suspension.

The House condemned the action of lawmakers to go to the social media to discredit what the house has achieved over the years, said the communique asked to be issued by the three suspended lawmakers was a vote of confidence in support of the Presidential aspiration of Gov Yahaya Bello before the primary.

The Speaker, Prince Mathew Kolawole in his submission said the suspended lawmakers have violated the house rule and will be investigated by the committee on ethics and privileges.

The three members of the Kogi State House of Assembly on suspension were however barred from all activities of the Assembly until the investigation is concluded on their alleged involvement in forgery.

“The Chairman of this committee should write to these suspended lawmakers. It is a grievous offence. A member that is expected to be honourable is now acting dishonourably. I call this forgery because a document that is meant for something is being used for another thing.

“At this junction, the three former principal officers; Hon. Ahmed Mohammed, Bello Hassan Balogun,  and Ododo Moses remain suspended till further notice pending the outcome of the investigation” he added.

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