The Speaker, Kwara State House of Assembly, Dr Ali Ahmad has described the introduction of new rules into the House of Representatives Standing Orders which henceforth ban mace-snatching by members as a good move that would bring sanity to the House.

Ahmad noted that anything that challenges the symbol of authority of the House or for the Speaker to control the House must always be met with maximum disciplinary measure to serve as deterrent to others.

Ali while reacting to the new rules introduced by the Reps to ban mace-snatching and discourage members' bad conduct, in a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Media, Shuaib Abdulkadir, the Speaker who represented Ilorin East/South Federal Constituency at the 7th Assembly, noted that the move would put a stop to such practice.

"It is a good move and it is something that must be supported. Snatching the mace or breaking it is unparliamentarily and anything that challenges the symbol of authority of the House must be met with maximum disciplinary measure. It is something other House of assemblies should emulate because it will bring sanity to the House.

"Situations where if there is any little disagreement or commotion people rush to snatch the mace or destroy it, am sure this step will put a stop to such act permanently. You can disagree on issues but the authority of the House or for the Speaker to control the House must not be impeded."

He stated that Kwara State House of Assembly has never witnessed such situations before, but revealed that it would look into domesticating the rules so as to prevent possible occurrence in the future.

The speaker also urged other House of assemblies in the federation to follow suit in order to prevent rowdiness in their respective Houses and ensure effective discharge of their legislative duties.

"I urged all other House of Assemblies to also do the same and definitely Kwara State House of Assembly will soon look into it".

It would be recalled that the House of Representatives had recently introduced new rules against bad conduct by members in its renewed move to instill discipline and curb rowdiness in the House.

With the introduction of the new rules, any House member who seizes or break the mace henceforth would be suspended for six months with new rules giving the Speaker power to extend such suspension for as long as he wishes.