There was drama in the Benue State House of Assembly on Monday over the election of its speaker as the legislators engaged in a war of words over allegations of vote buying.
OsunDaily News understands the drama happened shortly after the proclamation of the 10th Assembly by the state governor, Hyacinth Alia, paving the way for the 32-member house to choose its next leader.
It is also understood that the position of speaker was zoned to Gboko LGA which is Benue North-West as the Governor is from Vandeikya LGA of Benue North-East, while the Deputy Governor is from Otukpo LGA of Benue South Senatorial District.
The two candidates for speaker are Becky Orpine representing Gboko East and Aondonna Hyacinth Dajo, the member representing Gboko West.
While Orpine is the party’s choice by the Pro-George Akume camp of the APC which has the backing of the State Working Committee, her rival, Dajo, has the backing of the governor and his APC loyalists in the state.
After the first ballot, the two candidates were tied at 16 votes each with the clerk of the assembly noting that there would be another round of voting.
Before the next round of voting, the member representing Konshisha Constituency and only member of the Labour Party, Cephas Diako, called for the exit of the Governor and the APC leaders in the house as according to him, their presence in the chamber is putting pressure on the members to vote their preferred candidates.
The house proceeded on a 10-minute break to reconvene for another round of voting for the position of speaker, allowing members to consult one another on who to vote for as speaker.
However, when the second round of voting commenced, there was a shouting match among members over an alleged plot by some members attempting to influence other members to vote for a particular candidate as speaker.
The pro-Akume and pro-Alia supporters protested loudly with each camp accusing the other of unfair practice and demanding the cancellation of the second round of voting over alleged influence on the voting process.
