Gov. Bello Yahaya locks up Kogi state house of assembly complex

The Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, in the company of the State Commissioner of Police (CP), Wilson Inalegwu, on Tuesday locked up the Kogi State House of Assembly Complex to prevent members of the state house of assembly from holding plenary.

According to a DAILY POST source, the action was an attempt to stop the planned removal of the Majority Leader of the House, Matthew Kolawole, who is said to be an astute supporter of the state Governor.

The source further revealed that the State Commissioners of Justice and Finance; Mohammed Ibrahim and Idris Asiwaju, were also slated to testify before the House of Assembly on how the state government utilized the bailout funds and the two tranches of the Paris-Club loan refunds received from the federal government.

He said: “The Kogi State House of Assembly is locked as we speak. Governor Yahaya Bello and the State Commissioner of Police stormed the complex this morning with some officers and thugs invited by one Hon. Bello who represents Ajaokuta State constituency to lock up the premises in order to prevent plenary from holding today.

“The reason is not unconnected to the perceived failure of the plot to impeach the Speaker and replace him with the Majority Leader who is a staunch ally of the governor. But, the Speaker himself having control of the House, has also staged a counter plot to have the Majority Leader removed today.

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“Also, the governor has paid some arrears owed workers and pensioners in the state with the funds received from the federal government. However, the House had planned, today, to hear from the Commissioners of Justice and Finance how the funds were expended by the state before this incident happened.”

Reacting to the incident, opposition youth leader in the State, Austin Okai, described the action of the Governor and the Police Commissioner as unheard of and a total violation of the principle of separation of powers between the executive and the legislators.

He said: “This is unheard of anywhere in the world that members of the Executive arm of government will physically storm a legislative complex in the company of security operatives in order to prevent legislators from doing their job.

“It is impunity in its highest form and must be put to a stop before it leads to an oppressive regime.”