- … Speaker says PDP lawmakers won’t be allowed into sitting
By Musa Baba Adamu
The 16 members of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) that benefitted from the judgement of the Court of Appeal which sacked members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stayed away as the House of Assembly resumed from recess yesterday.
According to the spokesperson of the state APC, Sylvanus Namang, the decisions to stay away was to avoid any clash.
Meanwhile, the Speaker of the of the House, Rt. Hon. Gabriel Dewan Kudangbena insisted that the 16 suspended members of the Assembly will not be permitted to resume plenary.
Kudangbena, while addressing reporters after a brief sitting, said none of the 16 lawmakers would be permitted to resume until a clear interpretation of the court judgment is presented before the House of Assembly.
He said, “The house is in receipt of judgments from two courts, one from a court of appeal and another one from the supreme court. And you know I am a lawmaker, I can’t interpret the law. Therefore, I have to see full interpretations of these judgments before I know what to do.
“The only thing I know now is that there are 32 members of the House of Assembly claiming 16 constituency seats right now, that is the reason I see the interpretations.
“So, for now, the Plateau State House of Assembly has only 8 members whose seats are not in contest, and only 8 members are recognized by my leadership. The other 16 members will join us when the law is made clear.”
Speaking on the development, the leader of the 16 PDP lawmakers who came to resume plenary but were locked out, Hon Ishaku Maren from Bokkos Constituency spoke on behalf of 16 sacked members, after gaining access to the venue.
He said, “We agree with the position of the Speaker of the State House of assembly, we know the Plateau State House of Assembly is law-abiding and has acted in accordance with the law. And as a group we are also law-abiding, we are calm, we are organized and we absolutely stand for our Speaker Rt. Hon Gabriel Dewan Kudangbena.
“We are ready to wait until the judgments are interpreted to give legitimacy to the House of Assembly.”
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