There was a mild drama at the Benue State House of Assembly on Tuesday when the immediate-past Speaker, Aondona Dajoh, was suspended, just days after his dramatic resignation.
Dajoh was suspended over allegations that he was plotting to impeach Governor Hyacinth Alia.
His colleagues accused him of masterminding a plot to impeach Alia, a move they described as “destabilising” to the state’s political order.
The suspension was the highlight of a stormy plenary session, presided over by the new Speaker, Alfred Berger, where members also reversed some of Dajoh’s earlier decisions.
The motion to suspend the former Speaker was moved by Terna Shimawua, member representing Kyan Constituency, and seconded by James Umoru of Apa Constituency. In a dramatic twist, Shimawua had himself been suspended last Friday by Dajoh before the latter’s resignation.
Speaker Berger upheld the motion and imposed a three-month suspension on Dajoh. He reduced the term from six months initially proposed, but in an unusual departure from legislative procedure, the decision was not subjected to a voice vote.
In another development, the Assembly revisited one of Dajoh’s controversial rulings and confirmed Timothy Yangien Ornguga, a law lecturer at Benue State University, as commissioner, just a week after the House rejected his nomination under Dajoh’s leadership.
Reading a fresh letter from Governor Alia to the House, Speaker Berger also screened and confirmed five more nominees, including Ornguga and James Dwem, whose earlier nominations had been blocked.
Governor Alia argued that neither Ornguga nor Dwem had been convicted of any crime despite petitions against them, urging lawmakers to reconsider them. This time, the once vocal opposition receded, and the confirmations were carried out without the customary voice vote.
In a further sign of political realignment, the Assembly lifted the suspension of three government officials earlier sanctioned by the governor; Grace Adagba, Chairman, Benue State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Maxwell Ogiri, Chairman, Otukpo Local Government Area and Michael Uper, Secretary, Benue State Lottery Board
The reinstatement signalled a new synergy between the legislature and Governor Alia’s administration after weeks of tense power tussles.
The suspension of Dajoh, alongside the reversals of his decisions, underscores the deepening intrigues within Benue’s political space. While the Assembly currently appears to be moving in step with the executive, Tuesday’s events suggest that political tensions in the state are far from over.
