‘Why Benue Assembly speaker resigned’

The immediate-past Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly, Aondona Dajoh, has resigned from his position following a contentious House session.

The session in question saw the rejection of the nomination of Commissioner-nominee, Prof. Yangien Ornguga.

The development was reported on Sunday by Ismail Omipidan, a Lagos-based journalist and former spokesman to the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy.

Platinumpost reports that Dajoh abruptly resigned as Speaker on Sunday afternoon and hours later, a suspended member of the House, Hon. Alfred Berger Ermberga, was sworn-in as the new Speaker.

Recall that the new Speaker was part of the quartet suspended from the House a couple of days ago over the alleged plot to remove Speaker Dajoh.

However, the highwire Benue politics got to crescendo on Sunday when the leadership of the State Assembly changed without any official reason.

But, Omipidan, a native of Osun State, who was incidentally born in Otukpo in Benue State, took to his verified Facebook page on Sunday night to provide fresh perspectives to the development, saying Dajoh was punished for exerting the independence of the state legislature.

In a short piece titled ‘Benue House: Why Speaker Dajoh was removed’, Ismail Omipidan, who described Dajoh as courageous, however, said that he knew that the former Speaker will pay for his ‘sin’.

He wrote: “The former Speaker, Aondona Dajoh was courageous in carrying out the screening of nominees for the position of commissioners last week.

“But I knew the rejection of the younger brother of the Tor Tiv, an Associate Professor of Law, Yangien Ornguga will trigger crisis.

“Ornguga, a lecturer at Benue State University, Makurdi, is the younger brother of the Tor Tiv, Professor James Ortese Iorzua Ayatse.

“Ayatse, a well-respected traditional ruler in the state is very close to the governor, Father Hyacinth Alia. And so he was given a slot for commissionership and he found his blood brother suitable for the position.

“Unfortunately, the lawmakers, owing to the deluge of petitions against the nominee, found him unworthy of holding the office. This, no doubt may have infuriated the governor and the Tor Tiv and may have decided to move against the former Speaker, Dajoh.

“Watch out, the rejected nominee may be presented to the House again. And if and when that happens, he may no longer be found wanting. We are watching!”

(Leadership)