Photo of a police van and security personnel at the main gate of Plateau State House of Assembly.
By Marie-Therese Nanlong
Jos – A squabble between Plateau House of Assembly and the Executive took a new dimension as rumors of alleged sealing off of the premises of the State Assembly on Monday morning spread on the social media.
It would be recalled that the Assembly last week Wednesday gave the State Governor, Simon Lalong two weeks ultimatum to act on the resolutions reached by the House on security.
The Chairman, House Committee on Information, Philip Dasun reechoed the stance at a press conference on Friday.
The Speaker, Abok Auba, read the resolutions as follow: “That the governor must visit all attacked communities of Mangu, Bokkos, Riyom, Bassa and Jos North Local government areas. That the governor must visit victims of the attacked receiving treatment at various Heath facilities, and settles their bills.
“The government must provide adequate compensation to all victims of those attacked. That the governor must take adequate steps to stop the spate of the attack and killings of innocent citizens in ramifications irrespective of any differences.
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“Just as the governor did for the people killed on Rukuba road, the governor must come out and speak on the recent killings and of course visit the President in respect of recent attack on the State.”
This ultimatum, coming from the Assembly which has largely remained docile since inception has sparked rumours of planned impeachment of the State Governor.
The Speaker again on Monday morning during an interview on Channels TV claimed the premises of the Assembly was sealed but the State Government has denied such.
The State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Dan Manjang in a statement in Jos said, “The attention of the Plateau State Government has been drawn to allegations made by the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Abok Nuhu Ayuba who appeared on Channels TV programme on Monday 30th August claiming that the Assembly Complex has been sealed.
“This false allegation has further been circulated on social media associating the Executive arm of Government and the Governor as being behind it. We wish to make it abundantly clear that the Executive arm of Government and the Governor is not aware or behind the purported sealing of the House as it does not dabble into the affairs of another independent arm of Government.
“It is on record that His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Simon Bako was the first Governor to implement full Autonomy for the Legislature and Judiciary as well as Local Government in the country. It is therefore not possible for him to be associated with any action that will impede on the activities of the House which has its rules and conventions. The Governor remains the longest serving Speaker of the House in the history of democracy in Plateau State, understands the workings of the House, and has demonstrated uncommon respect to the leadership and members of the Assembly.
“To the best of our knowledge, the House of Assembly remains open for legislative business. The good people of Plateau State and members of the public are advised to ignore the allegation and refrain from dragging the Executive arm of Government and the Governor into the affairs of the House. Those who have any concerns should channel them to the security agencies and desist from peddling falsehood against the Executive arm of Government and His Excellency the Governor.”
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However, the Clerk of the House, Ponven Wuyep, confirmed there is the presence of security personnel around the vicinity but normal administrative activities were going on.
His words, “We came to work and saw the presence of security personnel in the vicinity, I was able to access my office. I am a civil servant, this thing has a political connotation, I don’t make comments about that but I am in my office. Officially, the House is on recess since last week Wednesday that they sat. I don’t know what the heating up of the polity is all about.
“The security at the gate did not ask anybody any question, we don’t have the intelligence report that is at their disposal, they are duty bound to protect Government facilities so if they have any report that something is going to happen, no one told us, they are just there.
“They have not interrupted anyone’s activities as far as we are concerned, they came and parked and are just standing there. This is not the first time that security is beefed up at that place, we will wake up and see them, there is nothing strange to us, it is a regular activity, as at this morning, they came and were standing there.”
Meanwhile, the State Police Command, through its spokesman, ASP Gabriel Uba explained the Assembly is not being sealed but “We got information that some people were going there to protest, we don’t know about what because we did not give any group clearance for such. The youths came around with placards for a peaceful protest and have dispersed, the area is calm now.”
