Nasarawa State Assembly Sealed Off By the Police. Following the election of two speakers for the seventh assembly, Police have sealed off the Nasarawa House of Assembly Complex to prevent a collapse in law and order.
DSP Ramhan Nansel, the state Police Public Relations Officer, revealed this in a statement issued on Wednesday in Lafia.
According to Nansel, the action was taken in response to an order from the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Maiyaki Mohammed-Baba. He stated that the commissioner issued the decision after consulting with other state security authorities.
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According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the members-elect held two parallel sessions on Tuesday, June 6, resulting in the emergence of two separate speakers for the assembly.
When NAN visited the complex on Wednesday, there was an unusually robust security presence.
The Nasarawa State Government postponed the inauguration of the seventh Assembly indefinitely earlier on Tuesday, indicating a crisis.
The postponement was based on security advise to Gov. Abdullahi Sule, according to Mr Ibrahim Musa, the acting Clerk of the House, in a statement issued in Lafia.
Musa asked the members-elect and the general public to bear with the decision until a new date was announced.
However, the MPs reconvened a few hours later at several locations and elected factional speakers. It’s unclear whether any of the factions received a proclamation from the Governor allowing them to hold the first session.
On Tuesday, June 6, 2023, the immediate previous Speaker, Rt. Hon. Ibrahim Balarabe-Abdullahi, who was seeking a third term as Speaker, and Hon. Daniel Ogazi, a member of the parliament representing Kokona East district, were both chosen as speakers in parallel sittings.
According to sources, Balarabe-Abdullahi was elected Speaker during a meeting at the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, While Ogazi was elected after a meeting in the State Assembly premises.
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Ogazi, an All Progressives Congress (APC) member, was said to have been elected by 13 members-elect, including those from the opposition party, while Balarabe- Abdullahi, also an APC member, secured the backing of 11 members.
However, the state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ramhan Nansel, explained why the police sealed off the state legislature, saying the action was a mandate from the state Commissioner of Police, Maiyaki Mohammed-Baba.
He stated that the commissioner issued the decision after consulting with other state security authorities and would be sealed off till further notice.
