Nasarawa State House of Assembly became a battle arena on Monday as two factions in the House disagreed over the appointment of the newly sworn-in sole administrators. Briefing newsmen at the complex after the fight, representative of the House committee on Information, Mr. Makpa Malla described the appointment of the sole administrators by the governor as illegal.
He said that the house could not continue to sit down and watch illegality operate in the state without being checked. Governor of the state, Tanko Al-Makura, had sworn-in the sole administrators only about two hours before the fight. Speaking in the executive room where chairs and tables have been broken by the lawmakers during the fight, Malla said the chaos was as a result of the appointment of the sole administrators by the governor and “as a responsible House in which some of us are lawyers, we insisted that the right thing must be done.”
“The constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria section 7 sub section 1 as amended guarantees democratically organised system of local government and the constitution defined how the local government system, structure should be run,” Malla said.
“That is why, we are kicking against the appointment of the sole administrators which only existed in military era and as respecters of the rule of law, we must ensure that the executive also respect the rule of law.”
Despite the hullabaloo, Malla admonished the people of the state to remain calm and be law abiding as the law would take its course over the matter.
Also speaking during the press conference, Mr. Abubakar Oberre Kana, explained that there was no law guiding the operation of the sole administrators in the state which necessitated the house kicking against the appointment of the sole administrators.
“The sole administrators are standing on what law? Who is now determining the salaries of the sole administrators and their tenure and if the sole administrators commit an offence, what laws can the state use to punish them?” Kana said.
“In 2011, the state House of Assembly only passed an existing law, section 3 to 14 of the law provide a room for Transitional Committee Members for development areas not sole administrators, now which law provides a room for the appointment of the sole administrators?”