By Obaike Odihue
The governors of Benue state, Hyacinth Alia and Zamfara state Dauda Lawal on Thursday snubbed the House of Representatives Public Petitions Committee’s summon.
This was just as the Deputy Chairman of the Public Petitions Committee, Matthew Nwogu and the Benue Assembly members clashed over delay in handling their complaints.
Recall that the Committee had summoned both governors and their State Assembly leadership after a petition was brought before the House on March 27, 2025, by Ihensekhien Samuel legal representative of the civil society group Guardians of Rule of Law and Democracy, alleging illegal suspension of lawmakers in both states.
The group is urging the National Assembly to invoke its constitutional powers to take over the legislative functions of the affected state assemblies under Section 11 of the 1999 Constitution.
At the heart of the grievance is the claim that governors in Benue and Zamfara allegedly orchestrated the suspension of lawmakers in their respective state assemblies, rendering both chambers unable to form a quorum and by extension, incapable of fulfilling their lawmaking functions.
In Zamfara, four members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and six from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), were suspended by the Assembly in February 2024 for allegedly holding an illegal plenary.
Currently, two lawmakers, Bilyaminu Moriki and Bashar Gummi (representing Gummi I Constituency) are each laying claim to the position of Speaker.
The Gummi-led faction had convened a parallel sitting and purportedly impeached Moriki. In retaliation, the Moriki-led Assembly suspended 10 members allied with Gummi, accusing them of conducting an illegal session and declaring the impeachment attempt invalid
In Benue, the House of Assembly suspended 13 lawmakers for three months for allegedly opposing the removal of Maurice Ikpambese, the state’s chief judge, whom they accused of gross misconduct and corruption.
Speaking at committees hearing, the representative of the petitioner said: “Our petition is founded on established precedents,” said Samuel, citing rulings by the Court of Appeal and the Federal High Court. “No House of Assembly has the jurisdiction to suspend a sitting member for more than 14 days — anything beyond that is unconstitutional.”
The petitioners through their legal representative, Samoe noted with concern that the state governments had outrightly rejected the National Assembly’s authority to summon them, insisting such invitations lack constitutional backing.
One of the suspended Zamfara state House of Assembly member expressing frustration at the meeting decried the governors’ stance:“Before we came here, we were informed that neither the governors nor the assemblies would appear. One of them even boasted in writing that nothing would come of this process.”
However, the committee’s work hit an early procedural snag. Deputy Chairman of the Public Petitions Committee, Matthew Nwogu who presiding due to a change in leadership just the day before, raised concerns that the petition might not have been properly laid before the House plenary — a required step before the committee can assume jurisdiction.
He said: “I have the paper here,” he said, “but there is no House stamp on it. Until we confirm the petition was duly laid before the House and referred to this committee, we cannot proceed legitimately.”
While Samuel maintained the petition was submitted and referred through proper channels, the committee resolved to investigate its procedural standing before making further progress.
“The former chairman of the Committee will have to sit with the new Chairman and brief us on what he knows about this issue the after we will know what next steps to take.
Speaking at the meeting, the new Chairman of the committee Hon. Kwamoti Bitrus Laori, who however did not preside over the Committee meeting pleaded with all sides to maintain decorum.
“Please, let us follow due process,” he said. “This matter is emotional, but we cannot let feelings override constitutional procedures.”
The committee reiterated that the absence of summoned individuals would not halt its work, but emphasized that due process must be followed, especially if the House intends to invoke Section 11 to take over state legislative duties.
The Committee gave another date,14th of May 2025 for all parties to appear again
