Court reinstates impeached Kogi Speaker, other principal officers

      

A Federal High Court in Abuja has reinstated the impeached Speaker of the Kogi State House of Assembly, Hon. Momoh Jimoh Lawal, as well as the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Aliyu Akuh and seven other Principal Officers of the state Assembly.
It said their removal was not in line with the provisions of sections 90, 91, 92 (2) (c), 95 (1) & (2) and 96(1) & (2) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
Some members of the House of Assembly had on February 16, 2016 impeached the Speaker alongside other principal officers. This plunged the state legislature into a crisis.

Jimoh had filed a suit at the court, challenging his removal.

But delivering ruling on the case on Thursday, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba held that the impeachment did not follow constitutional provisions, stressing that in the 25-member assembly, only a fraction of members consented to the impeachment of Jimoh.
While ordering the reinstatement of the plaintiff as speaker, the court held that, “The continued sitting and conduct of the affairs of the Kogi State House of Assembly by the 1st – 5th defendants after the purported removal of the 1st plaintiff and other principal officers of the House and purported installation of themselves as principal officers of the Kogi State House of Assembly on the 16th day of February, 2016, is illegal having regard to section 96(1) of the Constitution and Rule 5(1).”