The Benue State House of Assembly, in a dramatic turnaround on Tuesday, confirmed the nomination of Timothy Yangien Ornguga as commissioner, just a week after his rejection.
Naijaonpoint reports that Ornguga, a law lecturer at the Benue State University, had been rejected under the leadership of the former Speaker, Aondona Dajoh.
While presiding over Tuesday’s plenary, the new Speaker, Alfred Berger, read a fresh letter from Governor Hyacinth Alia, which included the screening of five additional nominees. Among them was Ornguga.
Berger explained that the governor urged the House to clear Ornguga and James Dwem, the two nominees earlier rejected, stressing that neither had been convicted of any crime despite petitions filed against them.
In a surprising twist, lawmakers who had previously opposed their confirmation did not raise any objections during Tuesday’s sitting. The Speaker subsequently confirmed both nominees without taking a voice vote.
The plenary also took a decisive step against the former Speaker, Aondona Dajoh, suspending him for three months over an alleged attempt to impeach Governor Alia.
The motion was moved by the lawmaker representing Kyan State Constituency, Terna Shimawua, and seconded by James Umoru of Apa State Constituency.
Interestingly, Shimawua had been among those suspended by Dajoh last Friday before the latter resigned as Speaker.
Ruling on the motion, Speaker Berger reviewed Dajoh’s suspension from six months to three months. Like the confirmation of the nominees, the decision was taken without the usual voting procedure.
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