Reps drop plot to impeach Bankole, others

AGGRIEVED members of the House of Representatives, who had plotted to remove the speaker, Honourable Dimeji Bankole and other principal officials of the House, in the aftermath of the primaries by political parties, may have dropped the plot, Nigerian Tribune can report.

Some members, most especially those who lost out during the primaries by their respective parties, had planned to impeach the principal officials of the House on allegations that they had sold out on their plans to whittle down the powers of state governors through constitution amendment.

Before the commencement of primaries by the parties, the House of Representatives and the Senate had made efforts to amend some sections of the Electoral Law in a manner that would take the control of political parties from state governors, just as they equally planned to make themselves members of the National Executive Committees (NEC) of their parties.

However, on resumption of plenary session, last week, after two adjournments by the leadership, the aggrieved members were greeted with the report of removal of the name of the speaker from the list of candidate by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), while it upheld the list submitted by the former President Olusegun Obasanjo-led faction in Ogun State.

The development had forced those plotting the impeachment of the speaker to have a rethink, as they concluded that Ban-kole could not have traded their interests away for his ticket, as his seat too was no longer secure.

Some of the plotters told the Nigerian Tribune that the timing of the plot was equally considered wrong, as every member would be busy during the period of electioneering.

The aggrieved member were initially of the view that the leadership of the Senate and the House had traded off members in the two chambers by agreeing with the presidency to drop all moves to amend the electoral laws of Nigeria considered as inimical to the interest of state governors who had positioned themselves as the main bulwark of support for President Goodluck Jonathan’s ambition to remain in Power after the April polls.