Nasarawa lawmakers flout court order, declare member’s seat vacant

Nasarawa State House of Assembly (NSHA) has declared the seat of Hon. Makpa Malla representing Wamba constituency vacant, not minding a court order to the contrary.

Malla said he had earlier declared his defection from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and obtained a court injunction to stop the assembly from declaring his seat vacant.

The Guardian reports that High Court 3 sitting in Lafia on Wednesday granted Mr. Malla’s prayer and served the house a notice restraining it from declaring his seat vacant.

Justice Simon Aboki, the judge, said that upon consideration of the motion ex parte filed on August 28, supported by 26-paragraph affidavit, the court restrained the NSHA from declaring the member’s seat vacant.

“The respondents, whether by themselves, agents or servants, were restrained from declaring the seat of the member representing Wamba at the state assembly vacant,” he added.

The court therefore fixed September 6 for hearing on the matter.

Few hours after the court served the notice, NSHA leadership declared Malla’s seat vacant through a motion moved by Tanko Tunga and unanimously adopted by the APC members.

Announcing his defection, Malla had said he could no longer bear the unabated impunity that characterised the APC in Nasarawa.

He said: “After going through all the constitutions of the various political parties in the state, I chose to pitch my tent with APGA because of what the party stands for.