Kwara Assembly suspends PDP member

The Kwara House of Assembly on Tuesday ordered the suspension of its only Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member, Mr Jimoh-Raheem Agboola, over alleged contempt and abuse of privilege.

The Speaker, Mr Yakunu Damladi, announced the PDP member’s suspension after the House adopted a motion during Tuesday’s plenary session.

The motion, which was moved by the House Leader, Abubakar Olawoyin-Mogaji (APC, Ilorin Central), enjoyed the support of all members at the plenary session.

Olawoyin-Magaji, while leading the debate on the motion, described the Assembly is an institution and not an individual and as such must be respected.

He accused the suspended member of making what he described as “undesirable comment” which could lead to chaos about the House.

He alleged that Agboola disrespected the House in a trending post on social media and urged the speaker to investigate the matter.

Other lawmakers who corroborated the House leader in their submissions accused Agboola of making derogatory remarks against the House on social media.

The Speaker, Mr Yakubu Danladi, while announcing the suspension of the member, assured the House of adequate investigation on the matter.

Danladi directed the House Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Judiciary to conduct investigation on the matter and report its finding to the House as soon as possible.

He also directed Agboola to stop attending the House plenary pending the conclusion of the investigation.

In a swift reaction, the suspended PDP member representing llorin South, in an interview with our reporter described his suspension as unconstitutional and illegal.

“The suspension cannot stand the test of time, the rule of the House does not permit that and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria does not permit that.

“I am entitled to my opinion about our government,” the suspended lawmaker said.

He maintained that all his utterances on the state government activities were statements of fact.

Recall that the suspended PDP member of the House was only inaugurated in February 2021 following a court judgement that ordered an APC member to vacate the seat.