A Federal High Court in Abuja has nullified the impeachment of the speaker of Kogi State House of Assembly, Momoh Lawal and ordered his reinstatement. Lawal and 9 other Principal members of the House had challenged their removal from office by the Umar Imam led group on February 16, 2016, insisting that due process of the law was not followed.
The Kogi State House of Assembly was thrown into crisis on February 16 after five lawmakers in a 20-member House sat and purportedly removed the Speaker, Momoh Lawal and other principal officers. The five lawmakers went ahead and chose one of them, Umar Imam as the new Speaker of the House, prompting the other 15 members to challenge the legality of the impeachment at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Specifically, the plaintiffs had headed to the court to challenge their replacement on the grounds that it was unlawfully and unconstitutionally done and therefore urged the court to set it aside and their position restored. Whereas the defendants on the other hand argued that the removal of Lawal was as a result of his resignation from office.
But delivering judgement on the matter, the presiding Judge, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba held that the defendants were unable to prove their claims that Lawal resigned from his position. Justice Dimgba therefore ordered for the reinstatement of Lawal as the speaker of the house as he maintained that the impeachment was unconstitutional, illegal, null and void.
