Kogi House of Assembly crisis; Speaker resigns on Wednesday

The lingering crisis rocking the Kogi State House of Assembly was laid to rest on Wednesday as the Speaker; Abdullahi Bello resigned from the position. Subsequently, a new Speaker has been elected and he is Lawal Momoh-Jimoh. Jimoh was elected in a unanimous vote by all the 22 members present at the plenary sitting presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Emmanuel Omebije. The Deputy Speaker read the letter of Mr. Bello’s resignation as the Speaker of the House in which the embattled speaker claimed personal reasons as the reason. Also, the former principal officers of the House retained their seats after a vote of confidence was passed on them. Bello expressed gratitude to the House for the support given to him during his tenure as the Speaker from June 2011 till date. Meanwhile, the new Chief Whip is Suleiman Babadoko after Saidu Salihu declared that the seat was vacant. According to the News Agency of Nigeria, (NAN) Omebije then read out the names and signatures of the 22 members in the plenary session who adopted Mr. Lawal as the new Speaker of the House. A motion to that effect was moved by the Majority Leader, Yakubu Yunusa, and seconded by the new Chief Whip, Mr. Babadoko. Responding, Lawal urged members to support him and thanked them for having the strength to wade through during crisis “The event that led to my election today has so much threatened our unity. Sacrifices have been made and compromises reached to bring us to where we are today. “They are worthwhile sacrifices and compromises. The unity of this House is key to the progress and development of the state and must be jealously protected. Though many civil society groups accused the state House of Assembly over the impeachment move of Bello as it is thought that the process was a political witch-hunt  the by the state governor, Idris Wada.