According to him, the House has not carried out any meaningful oversight functions for more than three years, despite worsening insecurity and economic challenges across the state.
A suspended member of the Kwara State House of Assembly, Hon. Gideon Yisa, representing Edu constituency, has accused 21 lawmakers of allegedly taking an oath to support the governorship ambition of the Speaker, Hon. Salihu Yakubu Danladi, declaring that the Assembly has abandoned its constitutional duties and lacks any meaningful legislative agenda.
Speaking on Saturday at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Secretariat in Ilorin, Gideon described his suspension as illegal and politically motivated, insisting that the Assembly has failed in areas of economic planning, security oversight and legislative independence.
According to him, the House has not carried out any meaningful oversight functions for more than three years, despite worsening insecurity and economic challenges across the state.
“There is no economic agenda, there is no security agenda, there is nothing,” Gideon said.
“All we do is pass whatever bills the governor brings. After that, we don’t have any legislative agenda of our own.”
He alleged that lawmakers have become largely inactive, claiming that neither the Speaker nor any Assembly delegation has visited his local government area for oversight since the inception of the current Assembly.
“In my local government, I have never seen the Speaker or any delegation coming to oversee projects, even those already approved by the governor,” he said.
Gideon further accused the Assembly leadership of reducing lawmakers to what he described as “gossiping,” rather than focusing on lawmaking and oversight responsibilities.
“What keeps us busy in the Assembly is just bills brought by the governor. After that, we are bored. There is no agenda, so people spend time gossiping, mostly in the Speaker’s office,” he added.
Addressing his suspension, Gideon said the action violates established legislative rules and procedures.
He explained that under the House rules, no lawmaker can be suspended arbitrarily by the Speaker.
“We have rules, we have privileges,” he said. “If a member is accused of wrongdoing, the offence must first be identified and presented as a petition on the floor of the House. The Speaker then refers it to the Committee on Ethics and Privileges for investigation and fair hearing.”
According to him, only after the committee submits its report can the House debate and decide on any sanction, stressing that even in the event of proven misconduct, a Speaker has no power to impose a three-month suspension.
“No Speaker has the right to suspend any lawmaker for three months. Even if a member is found guilty, the maximum is 48 hours,” he said.
Gideon also dismissed claims that his suspension was linked to a closed-door session, insisting that the Assembly has never held such a meeting since its inauguration.
“They are even saying it was because of a closed-door session. Since the inauguration of this Assembly, we have never held any closed-door session,” he said. “If they claim we did, they should bring the date and the votes of proceedings.”
He reiterated that the Assembly has failed in its oversight role, noting that while the legislature cannot execute projects, it has the constitutional responsibility to investigate and monitor government actions to support good governance.
“We are supposed to help the governor through oversight, but we have not done that in over three years,” Gideon said.