A High Court in Plateau has ordered that Abok Ayuba be reinstated as speaker of the state House of Assembly with immediate effect.
The presiding judge, Nafisa Musa, in her ruling on Monday, described Ayuba’s impeachment as illegal and held it null and void.
The court also awarded N1.5 million as the cost of litigation and N138,000 as the cost of filing the suit.
Ayuba had approached the court to file a suit to challenge his impeachment.
He asked the court to declare that his removal “as speaker of the Plateau state house of assembly by the votes of less than two-third majority of the 24 members which is, 16 members of the Plateau state house of assembly, was in violation of Section 92(2)(c) of the Constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended, Order 7 rule 14 of the Plateau State House of Assembly Standing Orders 2021 as amended.”
Ayuba’s impeachment was led by eight lawmakers from the All Progressives and presided by the deputy speaker Saleh Yipmong on October 28, 2021, while members of the Peoples Democratic Party were rprevented from gaining access to the assembly complex.
A member representing Pengana constituency under the APC, Yakubu Sanda, was announced the new speaker.
