The Plateau State House of Assembly have successfully revived the tradition of impeachments in Nigeria’s political space by impeaching their Speaker, Mr. Peter Azi.
Mr. Azi who was impeached during plenary on Wednesday was immediately replaced by Joshua Madaki who was promptly elected during same plenary session in Jos, the Plateau State capital.
The impeachment occurred after Mr. Azi failed to survive a no-confidence vote moved by Mr. Peter Gyedendeg representing Barkin Ladi constituency.
Mr. Gyendeng was supported by other lawmakers at the session that unanimously passed the motion through a voice vote, leading to the removal of the former speaker.
Having tasted blood, the sharks moved in for the kill by also impeaching the Majority Leader of the Assembly, Henry Yunkwap, was also immediately replaced by Nanlong Daniel.
The newly speaker is a representative from Jos East constituency while the majority leader is the lawmaker representing Mikang.
Plateau State has been hit by immense bloodshed in recent times with 100 people killed in an attack in Gashish district of the local government sometime in June, making it one of the bloodiest months for the State in recent times.
This triggered widespread condemnation of the repeated attacks by suspected herders on communities in the north-central part of the country.
Amnesty International has accused the Federal Government of complicity in the killings and claimed that no fewer than 1,813 lives have been lost to the crisis since January.
While on June 27, Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, met with the President at the Aso Rock Villa to discuss ways which the Legislature can partner with the Executive to tackle the security issues in the country.
Despite heavy criticism however, President Buhari has faulted claims that his administration was doing nothing to tackling the killings.
While addressing the leaders of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the northern region on Friday, the President pointed fingers at some politicians accusing them of fuelling the killings in the country for their selfish interest.
“To suggest that our Administration is doing nothing is terribly unfair. We must not forget that the same Plateau State which has been crisis-ridden for years has in the past three years been celebrated for its peacefulness. The governor’s hard work for peace and the presence of the military’s Operation Safe Haven must have had some impact,”
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