Governor Yahaya Bello

Members of the Kogi State House of Assembly have agreed to elect a new Speaker as one of the ways out of the crisis that has been rocking the house for the past six months.

A factional majority leader of the house, Hon. Friday Sani disclosed this to newsmen in Lokoja on Friday, after a three-hour reconciliation meeting between the two factions in the house.

Sani said that the house agreed that the new Speaker would be unveiled at the next sitting of the house, but did not mention a specific date when members would reconvene.

He said that the members who started a reconciliation meeting on June 23 have agreed to put the crisis behind them and move forward as one, expressing optimism that the truce reached would make the house to become stronger and better.

Sani also stated that all suspensions and counter-suspensions during the crisis had become null and void.

Also speaking , another factional Majority Leader, Hon. Mathew Kolawole corroborated Sani’s submissions, adding that members have agreed to withdrawal all pending court cases.

He also said that the house would officially write to the House of Representatives to notify it of the peaceful resolution of the crisis and to lift the ban it placed on the activities of the Kogi Assembly.

Kolawole also debunked insinuations that Gov. Yahaya Bello has been the brain behind the crisis , stating that the same Bello was the one that was instrumental to its resolution.

Earlier , the governor, who was also present at the reconciliation meeting, told newsmen that the peaceful resolution of the disagreement among the lawmakers showed that the state was capable of resolving its own issues without external intervention.

He said that the lawmakers were brothers and patriots who meant well for the state. He commended them for their maturity and spirit of give-and-take which went a long way in bringing the crisis to an end.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) was reliably informed that the two factional speakers– Momoh Jimoh Lawal and Umar Ahmed Imam may be advised to step aside to give room to another member. ( NAN)