One of the four suspended members of the Benue State House of Assembly, Cyril Ikong, has dismissed claims that he and his colleagues were plotting to impeach the Speaker, Hyacinth Dajoh.
Ikong, who represents Oju II State Constituency and until his suspension was the Deputy Majority Leader, insisted that the allegation was unfounded and a ploy to malign their image.
Speaking in a telephone interview with Saturday PUNCH, Ikong said, “All the reports that some people held a meeting to impeach the Speaker are a ruse. There is nothing like that. They should do their investigation.”
The Assembly, during plenary on Friday, suspended Ikong alongside Alfred Aondoaver (Makurdi North), Shimawua Emmanuel (Vandeikya II) and Abu Umoru James (Apa) for three months.
The Majority Leader, Saater Tiseer, who moved the motion, accused them of convening a clandestine meeting in Government House aimed at mobilising support for the Speaker’s removal.
He said, “Informed that on Wednesday, 20” August 2025, the house in the spirit of unity passed a vote of confidence in the House leadership and the Governor of Benue State.
“Concerned that barely three days after the House adopted resolutions on this matter on this cause, Hon. Alfred Aondoaver and three others went behind to mobilise other members to cause chaos in the House.”
The house during the plenary presided over by the speaker, adopted the motions and the four members were suspended for three months.
The house later confirmed the nomination of four commissioners out of the eight forwarded to it.
Reacting, Aondoaver, leader of the suspended members, said he had accepted his suspension in good faith, describing it as the “beauty of democracy.”
“Please, I don’t want to speak to the media on this issue, but I have accepted it in good faith,” the Makurdi North lawmaker and chairman of the House Committee on Information told Saturday PUNCH.
Asked if he had regrets, he replied, “I told you I don’t want to speak on the issue. That is the beauty of democracy — whoever errs must be disciplined.”
Meanwhile, the state governor, Hyacinth Alia, has dissociated himself from the alleged plan to impeach the speaker.
The governor, in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Kula Tersoo, in Makurdi on Friday, said he wasn’t aware of such a plot.
While stating that he held the legislature in the highest esteem and maintained unwavering respect for the rule of law, Alia said he had consistently responded to communications and resolutions transmitted to him by the House.
The governor said he continued to enjoy a cordial and productive working relationship with the Dajoh-led Assembly and remained committed to supporting the House in the discharge of its legislative duties for the overall development of the state.
