Date: 2019-12-11

There was a mild drama at the gate of the Kwara State House of Assembly on Tuesday as a lawmaker elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, Abdulraheem Agboola, was locked out of the assembly on the orders of the Speaker, Yakubu Salihu.

Members of the PDP in the state had stormed the state assembly to protest against the decision of the leadership of the House to stop Agboola from Ilorin South State Constituency from entering the assembly.

Recall that Agboola recently won his case at the Appeal Court, thereby unseating the lawmaker earlier declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission, Hassan Abdulazeez.

Agboola thus become the only member elected on the platform of the PDP in the 24-member assembly.

Speaking with journalists at the assembly complex, Agboola said the House had been denying him entry since he got his certificate of return from INEC last Thursday.

He said, "As we all know, the Appeal Court is the last destination for the House of Assembly election petitions process. Its ruling has declared me winner. I started from the tribunal. I have my certificate of return from the INEC national headquarters, Abuja. The INEC in Kwara did the official presentation.

"According to the process, I have to come to the House in person to do documentation with the Clerk of the House in order to ratify and verify the genuineness of the certificate.

"This is our third time of coming here. Since last Thursday that the certificate was issued, then Friday and today, they did not attend to us. The Speaker, the Clerk and all of them have made themselves unavailable. We have been patient, telling our supporters not to be violent. This is the House we built. I served here between 1999 and 2003.

"We got here by 8am today (Tuesday), the security personnel said the Speaker would address us when he comes. We said there’s no need for any address but entry into the House." In his reaction while speaking with journalists, the Chairman, House Committee on Information, Culture and Tourism, Awolola Ayokunle, said the House was served "a court summon joining the Speaker and the Clerk to the House, in a motion on notice with No. FHC/IL/CS/157/2019, filed in the Federal High Court of Nigeria, in the Ilorin Judicial Division, holding at Ilorin by Hon. Hassan Abdulazeez Elewu, seeking to restrain the House from swearing in the PDP candidate pending the determination of the case.

"As the first arm of government charged with the responsibility of lawmaking, the House cannot but abide by the law.

"However, the House is restrained from taking further steps in respect of the certificate of return issued to the PDP candidate for the Ilorin South constituency seat until the determination of the above said suit scheduled to be moved on Monday, December 16, 2019."