Police Seal Off Nasarawa Assembly complex

The police have sealed off the Nasarawa House of Assembly Complex to avert a breakdown of law and order following the emergence of two speakers for the seventh assembly.

DSP Ramhan Nansel, the state Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, said this on Wednesday in a statement in Lafia.

Nansel said that the action was due to a directive by the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Maiyaki Mohammed-Baba.

He said that the commissioner gave the directive after consultation with other security agencies in the state.

The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, gathered that the members-elect on Tuesday, June 6 held two parallel proceedings resulting in the emergence of two different speakers for the assembly.

An unusual heavy security presence was noticed at the complex when NAN visited on Wednesday.

Indication of a crisis emerged earlier on Tuesday when the Nasarawa State Government postponed the inauguration of the seventh Assembly, indefinitely.

Mr Ibrahim Musa, the acting Clerk of the House, had said in a statement in Lafia that the postponement was based on security advice to Gov. Abdullahi Sule.

Musa called on the members-elect and the public to bear with the decision as a new date would be communicated to them in due course.

But a few hours later, the lawmakers reconvened at different venues and elected factional speakers.

It is unclear whether any of the factions had any proclamation from the Governor enabling them to hold the inaugural sitting.