Hottestgistnaija.com
By Kola Popson
The governor of Niger State, Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, has deliberately refused to formally recognize the newly elected Speaker of the Niger State House of Assembly, Hon Isah Mohammed Kawu, at a public function meant for the commissioning of the Minna Building Material Market in the state capital on Monday.
The event had in attendance the impeached Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Barrister Adamu Usman, the new Speaker, Hon. Isah Kawu, other members of the State House of Assembly as well as other dignitaries.
Before making his speech, Governor Aliyu Babangida has observed protocol but deliberately refused to acknowledge the presence of the new speaker and the impeached one, as both of them were omitted from the protocol list.
In the same vein, the sitting arrangement of the event was done in a way that the new speaker was not accorded the privileges due to him as the N0 3 citizen of the state. Indeed, it was reliably gathered that the impeached Speaker occupied the seat which the new Speaker ought to have occupied.
Reacting to this development after the event, the new speaker, Hon. Isah Kawu noted that the deliberate action of the governor in refusing to formally recognize him as the Speaker does not change the fact that he, Kawu, is the Speaker of Niger State House of Assembly. “I saw the omission, it was not hidden, I am sure everyone noticed it but one certain fact is that it does not change anything. I still remain the Speaker of the House of Assembly,” the new Speaker said.
In the meantime, the Niger state House of Assembly remains locked with heavy presence of police officers, thereby preventing the legislators from performing their legislative functions. When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Ibrahim Gambo explained that the Police officers are stationed at the Assembly complex for the purpose of safeguarding it.
