By Abel Daniel

The Nasarawa State House of Assembly was on Monday thrown into  chaos following the inauguration of 11 sole administrators for local governments in the state by Governor Umaru Tank Almakura in obedience to a court ruling removing elected council  Chairmen.

The fight, which led to the suspension of six APC lawmakers, started at the closed-door session when  the governor  was challenged on why he should  embark on the appointment of the sole administrators without the consent of the legislators.

It was said  that the rift spilled over to plenary when the Majority Leader of the House, Tanko Tunga, moved a motion, citing Order 39 subsection 1,2,3 of the House rules to suspend the six members for challenging the action of the governor and the House.

The motion was opposed by the aggrieved members, resulting in physical combat between the two groups in the parliament.

The free-for-all  resulted in serious injuries on some of the lawmakers as chairs, tables and various objects were used. Intervention of security agents prevented the fight from degenerating.

Shortly after the free-for-all, the Chairman, House Committee on Information, Makpa Malla, who is among the six aggrieved lawmakers, at a press briefing, said the breaking of tables at the executive session was a result of disagreement among the lawmakers on the appointment of the sole administrators.

Malla described the appointment of the sole administrators by Al-Makura as dishonest, saying the House could not watch illegality continue in the state.

“As you can see, this is the executive room of the state House of Assembly, where we sit down every morning to discuss matters that will bring development to the state and the country at large,” he stated.

“Categorically, I want to state here that the disagreement which caused this chaos was as result of the single-handed appointment of the sole administrators by the governor and, as a responsible House in which some of us are lawyers, we insist that the right thing must be done.

“The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Section 7 Sub-section 1, as amended, guarantees for a democratic system of local government and the Constitution defines how the local government system structure should be run.

“That is why we are kicking against the appointment of the sole administrators which only existed in military era. But in this dispensation of the rule of law, we must ensure that the executive also respects the rule of law.”

The state Assembly, on Tuesday, suspended the six lawmakers for challenging Al-Makura’s decision to swear in  the 11 sole administrators.

Speaking on the floor of the House, the Majority Leader, Tunga, moved a motion for the suspension of the six lawmakers for misconduct and bringing the Assembly to disrepute.

The motion, which was seconded by the Minority Leader, Muhammed Alkali, was supported by 14 members of the Assembly, including the presiding officer, Deputy Speaker Godiya Akwashiki (PDP).

The House, therefore, suspended the lawmakers indefinitely, placing them on half salary pending the resolution of the matter.

Reacting to the suspension, Malla described it  as a “rape of democracy”, and vowed that the group would seek redress in court.

All the affected  lawmakers, including Malla, representing Wamba Constituency, are members of APC, namely, Kassim Kassim, APC-Akwanga South; Abubakar Kana, APC- Kokona West; Makpa Malla, APC-Wamba; Mohammed Okpoku, APC- Udega/Loko; Musa Ali, APC-Keffi East; and Murtala Sodangi, APC-Nasarawa Central.