The Chairman, Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria, Mr Mudashiru Obasa, has commended the National Assembly (NASS) for its intervention to resolve the crises rocking Edo and Bauchi State Houses of Assembly.

Obasa, who is also the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, made the commendation in a statement he personally issued on Sunday in Lagos.

He said the conference welcomed the recent resolve of the Senate and the House of Representatives to intervene in the squabble at the state assemblies.

According to him, the speakers’ conference is not concerned about who becomes the speaker of a state Assembly but the process through which such an individual emerges should be in line with the rule of law.

“Every legislature in Nigeria has a House rule that must be followed by members and without undue external interference.

“The Nigerian constitution stipulates how the legislative arm of government should function as well as the role of its members.

“We stand by our position not to recognise any speaker that does not emerge following the business rules of the affected House of Assembly.

“We also call on the ruling political parties in Edo and Bauchi to step into the crises in the states for democracy to thrive,” the chairman said.

Obasa appealed to governors Godwin Obaseki and Bala Mohammed of Edo and Bauchi States, respectively, to know their limits in relation to the other arms of government in their respective states as dictated by the constitution.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Senate and the House of Representatives recently set up committees to investigate the crisis that have affected the effective take-off of legislative activities in the Edo state House of Assembly.

The 13-man ad-hoc committee of the House of Representatives is chaired by Mr Abdulrazak Namdas (APC-Adamawa) while that of the Senate is headed by Sen. Aliyu Sabi (APC-Niger). (NAN)

– July 14, 2019 @ 14:32 GMT |