Katsina APC Reps Exchange Blows Over Court Judgment -

THE House of Representatives
chamber was thrown into confusion
on Wednesday as some Kastina
lawmakers engaged themselves in
free for all over November 1 Appeal
court ruling which faulted the
retrieval of Certificates of Return of
10 lawmakers from the state and
issuance of new ones to another set
of lawmakers from the state who
were presently occupying lawmaking
position in the National Assembly.
Nigerian Tribune recalled that the
Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja had
on Friday fired two Senators and
eight House members from Katsina
state, who got their seats after those
occupying the positions were sacked
by the Independent National
Electoral Commission in December
2011.
The court had ordered that those
sacked by INEC be reinstated and
they are Senators Abdu Umar
Yandoma and Ahmad Sani Stores;
those from the House are: Murtala
Isa, Muntari Dandutse, Musa Salisu,
Aminu Ashiru and Umar Adamu
Katsayal, Muhammad Tukur, Tasi’u
Doguro, and Abdu Dankama.
Those who are presently occupying
the seats ordered by the court to be
vacated are: Senators Abubakar
Yar’adua and Hadi Sirika, those from
the House are: Ahmed Babba Kaita,
Salisu Salisco, Umar Abubakar,
Salisu Daura, Isa Doro, Sani Mashi,
Abbas Machika and Mansur Funtua.
Trouble started on Wednesday when
one of those reportedly ordered by
the court to be reinstated stormed
the House and demanded that he
should sworn in but was stopped by
the present occupants in the House.
Some of the reported sacked
lawmakers had noticed one of the
eight “new” lawmakers who found
his way into the chamber and was
waiting for the leadership of the
House to swear his group in.
However, fight broke out when the
current occupier of the seat engaged
him in a free-for-all.
In the process of the fist cuff the
court-reinstated lawmaker had his
clothes torn.
It, however, took the intervention of
the Minority leader, Honourable
Femi Gbajabiamila, Honourable
Suleiman Abdulrahman Kawu
Sumaila and Deputy Minority Whip,
Honourable Garba Datti before
normalcy was restored.
To this end, they begged the court-
reinstated lawmaker to step out of
the chamber and allow the
leadership of the House resolve the
issue and subsequently took the ex-
lawmaker along with some of his
colleagues to a room for a meeting.
However, midway into the meeting,
the aggrieved court reinstated
lawmakers walked out of the
meeting.
Speaking with newsmen after they
staged a walk out, the court
reinstated lawmakers accused the
National Assembly leadership of
politicizing their matter.
One of them, Mukhtari Dan-Dutse
told newsmen that, “What is
happening in this House is very
unfortunate, the issue of Katsina 10
is very clear...The law has no barrier.
After winning in the Federal High
Court and Court of Appeal which
faulted National Assembly and INEC
for withdrawing our certificates, the
appeal court has affirmed that
judgment.
The court said very clearly that we
should repossessed our seats,
without any hindrance. INEC has no
power to issue certificate of return
without contesting an election”.
Another court reinstated lawmaker,
Tasi’u Doguro on his part claimed
that, “This is the 13th time we are
winning court cases against our
opponents. We made sure that
National Assembly and INEC were
served copies of the judgement by
Monday (November 4), stressing
that, “there is a lot of political
blackmail. Actually, what is
happening now in National
Assembly, this issue of favouratism is
very dangerous. We don’t belong to
(Aminu) Masari camp. Masari was a
Speaker here. So they are doing him
a favour. But that is very
unfortunate”.
The Minority Leader, Honourable
Gbajabiamila however said that the
House would do justice to the
matter, saying, “The House will
follow procedures, tradition and the
law”.
SOURCE: www.tribune.com.ng/news2013/
index.php/en/news/item/25740-katsina-
apc-reps-exchange-blows-over-court-
judgment.html

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