Lalong had no contrary opinion to circumstances that led to my elevation as speaker —Madaki

Plateau State House of Assembly recently removed its Speaker, Peter Azi and Joshua Madaki was elected as the new leader. The new speaker, in this interview by ISAAC SHOBAYO, speaks on the circumstances that led to his emergence. 

What led to the impeachment of the former Speaker? There is also an insinuation that both the APC leadership in the state and Governor Simon Lalong are mounting pressure on you and the newly elected majority leader of the House to resign to pave way for the return of those impeached. What is the position of things?

When we were in the plenary session, there was a motion that led to the impeachment of the former speaker. In the process, I was nominated for the position of speakership and thereafter I was sworn in as the new speaker. There were lots of issues but they were not bothering on criminality of any sort that led to the impeachment of the former speaker.

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On the notice of impeachment, the only issue raised was vote of no confidence on the leadership and the entire members endorsed his impeachment; about 19 out of 24 endorsed his impeachment. There was no report of any act of crime committed. After my swearing-in as the speaker of the House, there were rumors but I want to say that we have met many stakeholders right to my constituency and some of the issues at stake had been trashed out. I have also solicited for the cooperation and understanding of all members of the House because as a presiding officer mine is to preside but allegiance is on their part. I need to elicit their support and understanding to move the State House of Assembly to greater heights.

What are your goals for the House?

Plateau State House of Assembly has been on ground for quite a while. Within the Middle Belt, I think it is one of the cardinal houses of assembly with a long history. I want to project and uplift the image of the House within this short period of mine. I, along with my colleagues, will be more proactive in terms of legislative activities so that our deliberations will be as at when due and our oversight functions will not be relegated for any reason. We will also be public friendly. Issues that come before the House that desire the public to be carried along by way of public hearing will not be jettisoned. We will avail the public the opportunity of contributing their quota to such debate or discourse. There are policies of government that public hearing in the state capital is not going to be sufficient, we will let members have the privilege of collapsing to their constituencies and elicit the position of their constituency in respect to the bills before the House.

Based on what we have been hearing that the executive did not sanction your leadership, has the governor congratulated you or what is the present state of your relationship with him?

Officially in the media I have not heard any congratulations but the very day I emerged as the speaker we sought for an audience with Governor Simon Lalong and he welcomed us. We called on the party chairman and his executives; they also welcomed us and they have given us their words of assurance and cooperation. I held meetings with the governor before he travelled. I also had meetings with the state party chairman. I think we are working together; with these I have the conviction within me that they don’t have any contrary opinion to the circumstance that led to my elevation as the speaker of the House.

How many standing committees do you intend to work with as Speaker of the House?

At the House presently, I think we have about 20 standing committees and there is one special committee that is in place right now: that is the committee working to address this issue of attack and killings within the larger part of the northern zone: Bassa, Riyom, Brakin-Ladi and Jos South and also in Mangu, Bokkos  local government areas. All these local government have been prone to crises over the years and months. So this is one of the special adhoc committees. Other committees have their specific roles of assignments to make findings and oversight to better governance in the state.

What is the assembly doing to complement the efforts of the executive towards ensuring that the over 35, 000 persons displaced return to their original abodes?

We have just resolved that as worthy representatives of the people, on our own part, we are trying to package some relief materials that we would take to the IDPs’ camps. The last decision that would have to do with the camps would come from the executive and of recent we heard that the executive had set up committees that would look into the issue of resettlement of the IDPs. Ours is to support that committee and to ensure that all the needful are done. Aside the rehabilitation, security needs to be guaranteed before they can be resettled.

What is your position concerning autonomy for the legislative arm of government?

This is a philosophy that has been in place for centuries but it is unfortunate that in Nigeria, we are just getting it. It is a welcome development because without this, things cannot move as expected. How can an independent arm of government like the legislature be relegated to the background in the scheme of things? There is bound to be a lacuna in their functions. With this autonomy, I want to assure you that it is one of the best things that have ever happened because the house is going to be independent not only financially but administratively. We don’t need to queue; also the governors should accept this as a development and for their own good.