Benue Assembly Suspends Ex-Speaker, Clears Nominee Previously Rejected

The Benue State House of Assembly has suspended its former Speaker, Aondona Dajoh, for three months over an alleged plot to impeach Governor Hyacinth Alia.

The decision was reached on Tuesday after a motion was moved by Terna Shimawua, member representing Kyan State Constituency, and seconded by James Umoru of Apa State Constituency. In a dramatic twist, Shimawua was among the lawmakers suspended by Dajoh last week Friday before his resignation as Speaker.

Presiding over the matter, the new Speaker, Alfred Berger, announced the suspension but reduced the sanction from six months to three months. He ruled without the customary voice vote that usually accompanies such disciplinary actions.

The plenary also took another surprising turn when the Assembly reversed itself on the nomination of Timothy Yangien Ornguga, a law lecturer at Benue State University. Ornguga had been rejected under Dajoh’s leadership, but on Tuesday, the House confirmed him alongside four other nominees after Berger read a fresh request from Governor Alia.

The governor argued that Ornguga and James Dwem — another nominee earlier rejected — had not been convicted of any crime despite petitions filed against them, and urged the Assembly to approve their appointments. Lawmakers who had opposed the pair last week offered no resistance this time, allowing their confirmation to sail through without the usual votes.

In the same sitting, the House lifted the suspension of three political office holders earlier sanctioned by the governor: the Chairperson of the State Universal Basic Education Board, Grace Adagba; the Otukpo Local Government Chairman, Maxwell Ogiri; and the Secretary of the State Lottery Board, Michael Uper.

With Dajoh now suspended and the confirmations concluded, the Assembly appears to have realigned itself under Berger’s leadership, signalling yet another shift in Benue’s political power play.