APC and PDP Lawmakers Fight, Exchange Blows in Nasarawa

Members of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly engaged in a free-for-all on Monday over appointment of sole administrators for 11 local government councils by Governor Tanko Al-Makura.

The fight occurred on the floor of the legislature barely two hours after the governor inaugurated the 11 sole administrators for the affected local government councils.

Glasses were shattered while tables and chairs were used in the violence that engulfed the House.

A faction that described the governor’s action as illegal was opposed by another faction that supported the action. Some legislators sustained injuries during the violence, some had their clothes torn.

Briefing newsmen at the legislative complex, a member, House Committee on Information, Makpa Malla, said that seats and tables were broken during the fight.

Describing the appointment by the governor as illegal, Malla said the Assembly could not continue to watch the governor perpetrate illegalities in the state.

Also speaking during the press conference, Mr. Abubakar Kana, an APC member representing Kokona-West, said there was no provision for the position of sole administrator in the laws of Nasarawa State.

He said this was the reason why the lawmakers kicked against the action of Governor Al-Makura.

“Where would the sole administrators derive their powers from? Who determines the tenure and salaries of the sole administrators? Sole administrators are not known to Nigerian and Nasarawa laws.

“If the sole administrators commit any offence, under what law would they be tried?,” he queried.

But the Deputy Speaker, Godiya Akwashiki, who is a PDP member representing Nasarawa-West, condemned the action of those who opposed the governor’s action.

He said the 24-member House would not be cowed by a few who had gone on a campaign of calumny against the state.

The deputy speaker said the lawmakers met with the governor over a court judgment which ordered that the tenure of the 11 council chairmen must not exceed two years.

He said the governor had to inaugurate the 11 sole administrators because of the security situation in the state, adding that on account of this, it would be wrong to fault the governor’s decision.

He added, “We cannot afford to leave the councils without heads. The tenure of the former local government chairmen expired on March 24, 2016.”