Gombe Speaker Locked Out Of Assembly Complex By Striking Staff

• Mr Luggerewo appealed to PASAN members, saying their protest should be done in a peaceful manner and cautioned against any attempt to hijack it.

The Speaker of the Gombe State House of Assembly, Abubakar Luggerewo, was denied access to the Assembly’s premises on Tuesday after members of the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN) blocked the entrance.

He promised that the association would be given a fair hearing because the state government, led by Governor Inuwa Yahaya, had shown that it was a listening government.

Mr Luggerewo said, “We spoke with him (Gov. Yahaya) this morning, and he told me that he is going to call the Gombe state chapter for dialogue tomorrow, God willing, and I think it will be settled soon.”

The strike, according to Muhammad Bello, chairman of PASAN’s Gombe state branch, is indefinite, and “we will not be moved until we see the implementation of financial autonomy for the state house of assembly.”

“Today, we came out to protest a violation of a constitutional provision. In 2018, President Muhammadu Buhari signed a bill into law granting Nigeria legislative autonomy and then issued an executive order.

“All 36 states’ legislative arms were to be independent and autonomous, according to the order. We have yet to witness the execution of that order.”

Read Also: Accident Involving Convoy Of Gombe Gov. Leaves One Dead, Others Injured

Mr Bello blamed the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) for the order’s non-implementation, saying that while President Buhari meant well for the parliamentary arm, the “NGF has become the stumbling block toward implementation.”

He said the implementation of the order had become a problem because the NGF halted it.

“That’s why we came out today to show Nigerians that the principle of separation of power and constitution is not being upheld,” said Bello.

He added that it amounted to injustice for governors voted into power on the basis of the constitution not to be abiding by the provisions of the constitution in this regard.

“They are not supreme to the constitution. We are all Nigerians and they have to follow the doctrine of that democracy, which advocates that separation of powers is supreme,” he said.

Mr Bello stressed that legislative activities, no matter how important, would not be allowed in the assembly, adding “no autonomy, no work. If financial autonomy is not implemented, the gates of the assembly will remain shut.”

PASAN members blocked the gate of the assembly chanting solidarity songs and carrying placards, some reading “No financial autonomy, no legislation,” “I support independence of the legislative arm.”