The Niger State House of Assembly has called on the Nigeria Police to withdraw its personnel from its complex.
The Speaker, Alhaji Isah Kawu, made the call when he briefed newsmen , on the development on Tuesday, May 12,2015.
Since the impeachment of the former speaker, Alhaji Adamu Usman, in Minna, police have taken over the State Assembly complex.
Alhaji Kawu said that the continued barricading of the assembly complex by the police amounted to an infringement on the rights of members to perform their constitutional duties.
“The police commissioner should order his men out of the gate for the house to continue to do the job of the 7th legislative assembly until there is transition of government,” he said.
On the impeachment of the former speaker, Kawu added that the house decision was unanimous, adding that 20 out of 25 members voted for the impeachment. He also said that the court injunction allegedly stopping the impeachment of Usman was granted after the impeachment.
“The court injunction came after the act. If anyone have evidence of the house receiving it before the act let him or her come to us. “The judiciary should know that it is also an integral act of politics to ensure that politicians imbibe the culture of democracy,” he added.
Reacting to the call, the police in the state have said that their barricading of the assembly complex was to avert a breakdown of law and order. The Commissioner of Police in Niger, Mr Emmanuel Amore, told newsmen that the police action was based on court order and to maintain the status quo in respect of the former speaker.
