Temidayo Akinsuyi, Samuel Ogidan, Ubong Ukpong, Tor Vande-Acka

Lagos / Abuja / Makurdi – The presidency and the police on Monday got knocks following alleged police protection given to eight Benue lawmakers who served impeachment notice on Governor Samuel Ortom.

Eight of the 30 Benue State House of Assembly members also took control of the premises of the state parliament with alleged support of the police.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senate President Bukola Saraki, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar condemned plot by the eight lawmakers to impeach Ortom, saying the action is invitation to anarchy.

While Atiku described the action as recipe for anarchy, the National Assembly represented by Saraki and Dogara described the development as desecration of the legislative sanctity.

PDP, in a communique read by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, at the end of its meeting that lasted for more than three hours, condemned in its entirely the purported sitting of eight APC members including the impeached and suspended speaker, in a 30-member House of Assembly, adding that it is on record that the erstwhile speaker had been impeached, suspended and restrained by a court of competent jurisdiction from parading himself as speaker.

The party, also condemned the use of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Department of State Services (DSS) to harass and intimidate officials of the Benue State government.

“We note the roles played by the factional Chairman of the APC, Adams Oshiomhole, President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government and Sen. George Akume in encouraging lawless acts and anarchy in Benue State.

“The actions and opinions expressed by Oshiomhole on the decamping of Governor Ortom to the PDP as well as the deployment of policemen by the Buhari led Federal Government to force the purported issuance of illegal impeachment notice on the governor are acts intended to precipitate crisis for declaration of state of emergency in Benue”, the party said.

The party said that it is shocking that no fewer than 300 policemen were alleged to have escorted the impeached speaker to the state House of Assembly to initiate a disgraceful and manifestly illegal process.

PDP called on the Nigerian public, the civil society organisations and international community to note the series of plots and deliberate attempts by the Buhari led APC Federal Government to cause mayhem in a state that is struggling to recover from a spate of killings and bloodletting.

“We are aware that these plots were designed to scare away Nigerians, including state governors and legislators, who are desirous of rallying with the PDP to rescue our nation from the misgovernance of the Buhari regime,” the party said.

Saraki and Dogara, in a statement jointly signed by their aides, Yusuph Olaniyonu and Turaki Hassan, described “as a desecration of the legislative sanctity, the on-going situation in Benue State in which eight out of the 30 members of the state House of Assembly have commenced impeachment process against the governor and with the support of the police, the 22 other members who constitute more than two-third majority are kept away from the Assembly complex.”

The National Assembly leaders also called on President Buhari to call the police to order and stop them being used to achieve political purposes.

The duo said, “We have monitored closely the development in Benue State in which the impeached Speaker, Terkimbir Ikyange, led seven other members to serve impeachment notice on the state governor, Samuel Ortom, while the 22 other members who constitute more than two-third majority have been prevented from having access to the chamber. We believe this is illegality and does not conform to parliamentary procedure on impeachment.

“We also note with surprise the role of the police in this undemocratic event in which the minority is seeking to impeach a governor against the position of the majority. We believe it is the sacred institution of the legislature that is being desecrated and rubbished in all these negative developments.

“The situation in Benue State House of Assembly has grave implication for the nation’s democracy and it represents a throw-back to the period of dictatorship in our country. It also represents how the Nigeria police are being misused to achieve political end. In a statement recently, the presidency derisively referred to an era in the past where a minority number of legislators was used to impeach governors who were unfriendly with the Federal Government. What we are seeing in Benue now is a return to that inglorious era.

“We believe this unlawful and unconstitutional move to impeach Governor Samuel Ortom by a minority should be condemned by all lovers of democracy, at home and abroad. We call on President Muhammadu Buhari to call the police to order and prevent a break-down of law and order. We also call on friends of Nigeria in the international community to lend their voice in condemning the perpetration of illegalities and actions that can subvert our democracy.

“There is already a tense atmosphere in Benue State following the recent killings. Nobody should encourage any action or move which may exacerbate the security situation in the North Central state. As leaders of the federal legislature, we are ready to work with our colleagues in both chambers of the National Assembly to prevent any attempt to destroy any state legislature or use it to derail democracy.”

Atiku, in a statement by his Media Office, noted that the action of some of the lawmakers was aided and abetted by the Nigeria Police Force, adding that he’s greatly embarrassed by the unfolding political drama in the state.

Condemning the plot to oust Governor Ortom contrary to the provisions of the country’s constitution, Atiku warned that “any attempt to disregard the rule of law and constitution in the impeachment of a governor is a recipe for anarchy and officially sanctioned lawlessness.

Atiku regrets that, for a state facing security challenges like Benue, the introduction of lawlessness in the impeachment process could only complicate an already bad situation. 

He urged the police to remain politically neutral and avoid aiding lawlessness, adding that partisanship could professionally destroy the image of police.

The former vice president stressed that the loyalty of the police should be to the constitution and the rule of law, adding that whatever might be the short term political benefits of lawlessness, the long term dangers are by far greater than those perceived benefits. 

Benue State chapter of PDP, in a statement in Abuja by its Publicity Secretary, Bemgba Iortyom, condemned the “brazen resort to jungle tactics in our democracy by APC in Benue.”

The Benue PDP added that “this plot we had warned would amount to a brazen illegality since Mr. Ikyange had not only been impeached as speaker of the Assembly, but was also ordered not to parade himself in the capacity of his previous office by a Makurdi High Court with competent jurisdiction.

“Unfortunately, true to our alarm, Mr. Ikyange and seven other members of the Assembly had gone to the House early this morning, and with heavy police protection, had put up a charade in the name of an emergency sitting purporting to conduct legislative business.

“Also true to our expressed fears prior to what should now be called the “APC jack-boot crackdown on the Benue State Assembly”, Mr. Ikyange, sitting with an inferior minority of members not competent to conduct House business and without the Clerk of the House or the mace of authority, had purported to serve an impeachment notice on the governor of the state, Samuel Ortom.

“It has now become so loudly clear for even the blind to see and the deaf to hear that there is indeed an evil agenda against, not only the person and office of the governor of Benue State, but the very soul of the institution of democracy in our dear state.”

Eight Lawmakers Lack Numbers To Kickstart Impeachment— Sagay

Prof. Itse Sagay, Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), said the eight APC lawmakers lack the number to set off the process of impeachment against Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State.

In a chat with Daily Independent, Sagay said the lawmakers will first need one third of the members of the House to sign a document of intention to impeach, which after two weeks must be signed by two thirds of the House.

“Eight out of 30 lawmakers, the number is not enough. They cannot successfully impeach the governor if they don’t increase their number.

“They cannot commence proceedings because they need one third of the members to sign a document of intention to impeach, which after two weeks must be signed by two thirds of the House. So, presently they are not enough to kick off the process”, he said.

PDP Reps Vow To Frustrate Presidential Requests To NASS

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) caucus in the House of Representatives on Monday issued strong-worded threats to the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government over its alleged involvement in a plot to impeach Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State.

The PDP Reps vowed to frustrate forthwith all requests by President Muhammadu Buhari to the National Assembly.

The angry lawmakers briefed House of Representatives correspondents in Abuja on their position in the ongoing charade in the Benue State House of Assembly under the alleged supervision of the Federal Government-controlled police.

They said they would commence their offensive with the Federal Government on the matter, using President Buhari’s budget request for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as an example.

The lawmakers warned that it was time for the president and his party to exhibit caution over their desperation to seize power in all states of the federation as well as retain control at the federal level in 2019.

Chukwuka Onyema, acting Minority Leader of the House, condemned the impeachment plot by those they referred to as “renegade fellows” acting under the supervision of the Federal Government.

He said: “The PDP House caucus hereby condemns the ignoble action that is unfolding under the supervision of the APC Federal Government and the police in Benue State; the eight renegade fellows have no legal authority to serve any impeachment notice on the Governor of Benue State.

“The PDP House caucus condemns the absolute disregard for the Nigerian Constitution and the people of Benue State whose land some highly connected herdsmen and their instigators desperately hope to convert into a huge ranchland.

“We condemn the gross injustice in Benue State and we hereby affirm that constitutionally, at least twenty members of the House of Assembly must sit to form a quorum and, thereby, in its entirety, the so-called impeachment process begun by eight renegades and their sponsors must duly be described by all Nigerians as an illegality, an exercise in futility, which shall remain null and void.”

The PDP lawmakers noted that while all people of goodwill across the entire nation were “hoping to put the APC government’s merciless hunting of the Senate President behind them, armed policemen who had been drafted to Makurdi helped to put effect to the jackboot action against the government and people of Benue State.”

The PDP caucus said it was common knowledge that Benue was a much-troubled state, given what it called the unhindered atrocities of emboldened herdsmen, who had rampaged through several Benue communities, killing and maiming the old, the young, and even toddlers and pregnant women.

The spokesman for the lawmakers added: “Yet for people nursing intense physical injuries and psychological wounds, the APC Federal Government has now added a blatant rape of their hope in democracy as eight APC members of the Benue State House of Assembly have today served Governor Samuel Ortom an impeachment notice.

“The PDP Reps caucus expressed dismay that the APC government came into office with the slogan of progressivism and change, but in reaction to Governor Ortom’s defection from the APC to the PDP, policemen took over the state House of Assembly complex and an impeached Speaker of the 30-member House who had been suspended for six months for ‘unparliamentary behaviour’ presided over a mockery of the rule of law and democracy.”

The federal lawmakers were disturbed that while the police aided the eight state lawmakers into the Assembly complex to sit, the 22 lawmakers, led by the newly-elected Speaker, Titus Abua, were prevented from gaining access into the complex.

The PDP lawmakers, in raising the alarm over the dangers of the Benue scenario on the forthcoming general election in 2019, said: “With a sad and heavy heart, we are constrained to draw the attention of all Nigerians and the global community, including the United Nations, to the increasingly autocratic, grossly anti-democratic and historically anti-people antics of the APC Federal Government as it embarks on a desperate march towards the 2019 general elections.

“Indications are emerging that this administration is walking in the same grim path of the forbidding regime of late General Sani Abacha and the outright dictatorship that overthrew the democratic Shehu Shagari administration.”

Chaos In Benue As Security Men Besiege Assembly Again

There was chaos at the Benue State House of Assembly (BNHA) on Monday when security men took over the Assembly complex for the second time in one week.

The first time they failed in their attempt to get the impeached Speaker, Terkimbi Ikyange, into the Assembly complex.

But this time, the security men, most of who may have been deployed from Abuja and Nasarawa State, allegedly escorted the former speaker and seven others who convened a sitting at the complex.

However, the security had to contend with youths that got wind of the plot to escort Terkimbi Ikyange with the aim of impeaching Governor Ortom.

The youths were at the complex as early as 5a.m. on Monday but were, however, dispersed with teargas by the police.

The Ikyange faction, who later sat with the aid of security agencies, briefed the media after their sitting, stating that they had commenced impeachment processes against Governor Samuel Ortom and would communicate the governor in seven days’ time.

They cited allegations of financial impropriety as a reason for their decision to impeach Ortom.

But the new Speaker, Titus Uba, and twenty-two other members of the state Assembly, who were denied entry into the Assembly complex by security men, later sat at the Banquet Hall of the State Government House and declared the Ikyange sitting illegal.

The lawmakers argued that the Ikyange faction did not meet the required number to sit, were not in possession of the mace, and did not sit with any of the clerks of the Assembly in attendance.

They, therefore, declared the sitting by the Ikyange group as illegal.

They also resolved that since the sitting was illegal, all resolutions reached during the sitting was “null, void, and of no effect.”

Reacting to the episode, Governor Samuel Ortom allegedly blamed Senator George Akume; the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, and the Director General, State Security Services, Mamman Daura, for the action.

But the former speaker, Terkimbi Ikyange, and the seven insisted that they had commenced impeachment processes against the governor for allegedly embezzling N33 billion local government funds and N22 billion from the security fund.

While stating that the governor was under investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over the alleged embezzlement, he was also of the opinion that Ortom had performed dismally.

However, during its sitting on Monday, the BNHA decried the level of impunity by security agencies as “a rape on democracy.”

The lawmakers were worried that not for once had the Federal Government used an armoured personnel carrier in the last six months that the state was under siege by suspected Fulani herdsmen militia, but that they had used one to wade off lawmakers.

Following the action, the Assembly suspended the seven members that were in the Ikyange faction for being part of the illegal sitting.

Those suspended included Benjamin Adanyi, Terhemba Chabo, Benjamin Nungwa, Bem Mngutyo, Adams Okloho, James Okefe, and Nick Eworo.

Also lending their voices to the call for sanity in Benue, National Assembly members in the state, led by Senator Barnabas Gemade, condemned in very strong terms the siege on the state Assembly by security men.

Gemade said they were on recess when they got news of the invasion of the state Assembly.

He noted that it was in view of this that they went to pay a solidarity visit to the governor and people of the state.

According to the senator, “We learnt with great shock and disbelief what has taken place here today (Monday).

“Where, in commando style, the Nigeria security forces made up of police and DSS would storm the Assembly and cause a minority group of legislators who belong to one political party (APC) to meet and allow them access to make pronouncements on issues which were supposed to be deliberated by all members of the Assembly.

“This is an illegal action and we are deeply surprised that under a democracy a minority group can be given unimpeded access with security to cause illegality.

“We, members of the National Assembly, frown at this extremely and we came here to pay solidarity to the governor and the people of Benue State.

“Defection from a political party is not a crime and, therefore, those of us who have left one party for the other have not done anything wrong and, therefore, nobody should be vilified for these steps that we have taken.

“Democracy is about freedom of choice, so when people have made their choices they should be left with their choices.

“And we will ensure we inform the National Assembly when we get to Abuja and, where possible, they will take actions as expected of them, based on the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended.”

Governor Ortom, who also commented on the incident, lamented that security agents were allowed to enforce and abet illegality.

He, however, said he would continue to be law-abiding in the face of provocations.

“But it’s really provoking; the action of the eight members of the House of Assembly against twenty-two who are doing their job, actively supported by the police and DSS.

“Today, I have witnessed the highest level of illegality and impunity of the police in Abuja and FCT, acting on the directives of Senator George Akume, the IGP, and DG, DSS.

“They forcibly occupied the Assembly in flagrant disobedience of a Makurdi High Court order for them to vacate the premises.

“The police barred and stopped the twenty-two members of Assembly from entering the Assembly to conduct their legitimate business and manhandled the citizens who were going to watch the proceedings at the Assembly, they were tear-gassed and many were taken away,” the governor said.

He further registered his surprise at the police protection of the eight minority group.

He said: “The same police provided security escorts to the eight Assembly members.

“They sat illegally without the Clerk of the House or his deputy; eight members claimed to have suspended twenty-two members! Is it not laughable?

“The same members claimed to have served an impeachment notice on me. It doesn’t make any sense.”

He also asked rhetorically, “What is my offence? Have I not got the right to decide to associate with any political association of my choice?”

He added: “I call on all patriotic Nigerians and Benue citizens to rise to resist the security agencies and the rape on democracy.”

According to him, “As a law-abiding person, I want to believe in the rule of law. I will deploy legal processes in tackling this challenge.”

He also said: “This kind of impunity will only derail the democratic process we have, and Mr. President (Muhammadu Buhari) should not allow this to happen.”

Ortom further urged the president to call the security chief involved to desist from being used because the state enacted the Anti-Open Grazing Law in the state, adding that the law had come to stay.

He appealed to President Buhari to also call those involved to order.

He continued: “The IGP and the DG, SS should not be allowed to be used to perpetrate evil simply because we enacted a law. That law is not my making, it’s the making of Benue people, you can ask them.

“And if Akume is recruited to bring people to destabilise this government, he should be called to order or at least let the president call the IGP and DG, DSS to order for coming to perpetrate illegality. Democracy strives on rule of law.”