Lawmaker kicks as Kogi Assembly declares seat vacant

ANOTHER round of crisis is looming in the Kogi State house of Assembly following the declaration of the seat of Olamaboro state constituency vacant by the assembly.

The occupant of the seat, Hon Eneche Linus, had defected from All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party, and he has won the ticket of the PDP to contest the seat again in 2019.

The seat was declared vacant following the adoption of a motion moved by Majority Leader, Bello Abdullahi, calling on the House to declare his seat vacant.

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He said based on his investigation and a letter to the House by Kogi State Chairman of APC, Linus had contravened section 109-1(g) of the 1999 constitution as amended.

The motion which was seconded by Hon Ahmed Mohammed resulted in the heated argument from PDP members in the House who argued that there was no evidence to prove his defection by APC and the matter is already in Court.

The Speaker, Matthew Kolawole, however, overruled the PDP members and put the motion into voice vote.

But Linus has described the action as lawless coming from the lawmakers who ought to know the law.

He said the lawmakers’ action was null and void, as he was already in court seeking an interpretation of section 109 wanting to know if the speaker could declare his seat vacant.

According to Hon. Eneche, it was wrong for the State APC Chairman, Abdullahi Bello to have written the house to declare his seat vacant when the House was served the court papers on Monday.

According to the lawmaker, it was wrong to have deliberated on a matter when it is in court, describing the action of the speaker as reckless, adding that the assembly had refused to pay him for seven months now and all efforts to confer with the Speaker proved abortive.