LOKOJA—INDICATIONS
yesterday emerged that the crisis rocking the Kogi State House of Assembly,
might be over soon as the feuding factions agreed on templates for
reconciliation with factional leaders of the assembly including speakers expected to vacate their positions.
reconciliation with factional leaders of the assembly including speakers expected to vacate their positions.
Though details of the terms of agreement were not made
public, the meeting is expected to continue today, as the factions otherwise
known as G5 and G15 groups, met for about four hours at the Government House.
The meeting which had in attendance Governor Yahaya Bello, Deputy Governor
Simon Achuba, Chief of staff , Edward Onoja, Special Adviser to the governor on
Legislative and Assembly Matters, Yusuf Haruna; some commissioners and all the
23 Assembly members apart from G5 Factional Majority Leader, Friday Makama; was
held behind closed-doors. However, the Speaker of the G15 group, left the
meeting frowning and did not participate in the group photograph at the end of
the day.
Speaking with newsmen after the four hours meeting, Leader of the
reconciliatory group, Nihi Oladele said, “The crisis degenerated to the level
that the good image of the state was being battered, with elders of the state
not showing interest at reconciling the warring factions, hence the youths
stepped in to do the reconciliation.”
Speaking, the governor said he still
believed there was no crisis in the assembly, saying what happened was a
misunderstanding, expressing satisfaction that the members had decided to mend
fences.
Spokesman of the G15, Mathew Kolawole who spoke after the meeting said
the two factions had agreed on some templates for the total resolution of the
crisis, insising however that there was nothing that was permanent.
Though the
two groups did not divulge the templates, but Vanguard gathered that part of
the templates are for both the embattled speaker, MomohJimoh Lawal and
Factional Speaker, Umar Imam, to lose their Speakership positions along with
other principal officials in the new arrangement.
According to the source, the
G5 will produce the Speaker while the G15 group will produce the remaining six
principal officials.
“The only fraction in the new template is the body
language of the governor who still wishes Umar Imam continues as Speaker while
the other legislators are pushing for a neutral person. Also, the Majority
leader of the G5 who has been the anchor man of the group does not want to lose
his position. His absence at today’s meeting give credence to this assumption”,
the source added.
Source: Vanguardngr
0 Comments