The All Progressive Congress (APC) in Plateau State on Thursday urged the State Commissioner of Police to intervene in the crisis at the Plateau State House of Assembly, after Hon Nuhu Abok, who the party described as an impostor, was reinstated as Speaker of the House.
Speaking with newsmen in Jos , the State Publicity Secretary of the APC, Hon. Slyvanus Namang, stressed that Abok had been impeached in October 2021 for a financial misdemeanour and his seat had been vacated following his defection to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
According to Namang, Abok officially resigned his membership in the APC in March 2022 and defected to the PDP.
He added that the attention of the House and the State Party Chairman was drawn to the defection while Section 109 (1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was invoked and his seat vacated.
Therefore, Abok ceased to be a member of the House and communicated the same to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“The judgment purportedly passed in favour of the former Speaker, supposedly reinstating him to the office of Speaker of the Plateau State House of Assembly, which he had ceased to be a member of since March 22, 2022, and whose seat had been vacated, was a big surprise to the party,” Namang said.
He further explained that following the defendant’s dissatisfaction with the High Court judgment of April 3, 2023, the Counsel representing the government of Plateau State, as well as the Speaker, Hon. Yakubu Sanda, the Clerk of the House, and ten other members, immediately filed a notice of appeal and motion of stay of execution and injunction, which processes were served on the sheriff of the High Court, adding that service was also effected on Abok both electronically and physically.
Namang added that for Abok, who is a nonmember and who has been duly served with the Notice of Appeal and Motion for Stay of Execution of the judgment or injunction, to resort to self-help by storming the House and pretending to be back in the office as Speaker outside the known procedure for enforcement of judgment under Nigerian Law, was simply an invitation to chaos and anarchy, which had no place in any society governed by the Rule of Law.
He called on the State Commissioner of Police and the Plateau State Police Command to put a stop to the excesses of Hon Abok and the PDP’s encouragement of him to exhibit lawlessness.
According to Namang ” The Plateau State Command is duty-bound to provide security and protection to the legitimate members of the Assembly to enable them to continue to discharge their statutory duty of lawmaking devoid of any interference by hoodlums and imposters,”.
He called on members of the APC to continue to support the party at all times .
