Pressure to impeach Plateau speaker mounts
APC will take over Assembly leadership at the right time
—Chairman, House Committee on Information.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) and its stakeholders in Plateau State are mounting pressure on the party’s 22 members in the Plateau Assembly to impeach the Speaker, Honourable Gabriel Dewan, who is a lone member of the Young Progress Party (YPP), and take over leadership of the House.
Recall that the Appeal Court upturned the election of the 22 elected members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) state lawmakers in favour of the APC candidates in 2023 on the premise that the PDP in the state lacked the structure to field candidates for the election.
The lone YPP became the Speaker when the seat of the PDP members was vacated by the court but was subsequently sustained after the APC members were inaugurated.
Irked by the development termed undemocratic, the Nigerian Tribune learnt that the leadership of the APC in the state, including some stakeholders, has been mounting pressure on the members to ask the Speaker to resign either by way of motion or any other legitimate means.
Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune over the issue, the chairman of APC in the state, honourable Rufus Bature said it was an aberration and undemocratic for the House with the majority members of 22 out of the 24 to play the second fiddle while a party with just one member is presiding over the affairs of the Assembly.
In a democracy, the majority will always have their way, the minority their say. But if by the numerical strength of the House, the APC has 22 members, YPP one, and the Labour Party one, and the YPP member is the one presiding over the affairs of the House, it is undemocratic. All they need to do is move for a motion to change the leadership.
“It is either the Speaker is asked to resign or be voted out at the plenary. The party is not instigating disorder or a violent removal, but that is the practice everywhere; Plateau State cannot be an exception.
“As the chairman of the party in the state, we have discussed severally with our members in the House on this issue. It is left for them to see what should be done; we are not trying to cause a problem in the House; we are just saying the right thing should be done. We have become a laughingstock based on this development. It is abnormal and absurd,” he said.
The APC chairman said the choice of a speaker from the Plateau Central had equally distorted the zoning arrangement in the state, adding that it had not happened that the governor and the speaker would come from the same senatorial district.
In a swift response, the chairman of the House Committee on Information in the Assembly, Honourable Matthew Kwarpo, said the demand for a change of leadership in the House was a clarion call by the leadership of the APC in the state, suing for calm.
It was a clarion call from the Plateau State APC chairman, Honourable Rufus Bature. He argued that the Speaker should come from the majority party in the House. Currently, the Speaker is from the YPP, a minority party.
“So, the APC chairman requested that leadership should change and go to the APC majority. However, at the party level, discussions are ongoing. Other parties, including the PDP and YPP, have responded that this situation is a result of court judgments.
“As a House, we will remain coordinated and patient. At the right time, I know the APC will take charge of the leadership. Yesterday, during his birthday, the governor appealed for calm. There was a lot of social media chaos regarding the speaker’s future. The Governor’s appeal was simple: be patient and allow the process to unfold naturally.”
“The Court of Appeal judgment changed the House’s leadership structure. It will take a gradual process to realign things properly. Even the Speaker himself has acknowledged that he will one day give way to the majority party. I strongly believe that the change should not be rushed or done in a way that would destabilise the state. If you look at what is happening in Rivers State and other states, we do not want that kind of crisis.
“We want an amicable leadership transition so that members can focus on executing projects in their constituencies. The 23 members in the House are mature, reasonable people. They understand that change must happen—but it should happen at the right time and in the right way.
“It could be today, tomorrow—I cannot say exactly when. However, I know that when it happens, it will be in consultation with key stakeholders, including the Governor. Even though they may not directly influence our decisions, their input will help maintain peace and unity in the House.”
He pointed out that it is easy to move the Speaker within one minute but added that the members would not do that forcefully to avoid anything that would cause chaos in the state.
