Mr Abok Ayuba, the speaker of the Plateau State House of Assembly, has been impeached by eight of the 24 members of the state house of assembly.
This was revealed on Thursday morning during plenary by the Deputy Speaker, Saleh Yipmong, as Yakubu Sanda (APC-Pengana) was elected as the new speaker, as reported by the News Agency of Nigeria.
The speaker was impeached by 8 members of the house who gained access to the House as early as 6 a.m.
How the speaker was impeached
Reports say that the impeachment exercise was conducted under the heavy presence of armed security personnel as the lawmakers attempted to impeach the speaker on Wednesday night, but did not succeed and hence, returned on Thursday morning.
Mr Nanbol Daniel (PDP-Langtang North Central) stated that “The impeachment would not hold because it did not follow the House Rules on impeachment of speaker and deputy speaker.”
The impeachment follows a viral petition on social media yesterday by a group under the aegis of Youths Rights Against Corruption (YRAC) accusing the speaker of corruption.
The group said it has submitted a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against the Speaker accusing him of abuse of office and financial misappropriation amongst others.
The Executive Director, YRAC, Mr Abednego Musa, signed the petition titled “Petition Against Plateau State House of Assembly Speaker, Nuhu Abok Ayuba, On Gross Financial Misconduct, Criminal Breach Of Public Trust And Abuse Of Office.”
The group of eight lawmakers revealed they will present the newly elected speaker (Yakubu Sanda) to Gov. Simon Lalong this morning at the Government House in Jos.