The Benue State House of Assembly has suspended its former Speaker, Aondona Dajoh, for a period of three months, just two days after he voluntarily resigned from his position. Dajoh’s resignation was reportedly made in good faith and in the interest of the state. However, during a plenary session on Tuesday, he was suspended over allegations that he attempted to orchestrate the impeachment of Governor Hyacinth Alia.

The suspension motion was initiated by Terna Shimawua, the representative for Kyan State Constituency, and seconded by James Umoru from Apa State Constituency. Notably, Shimawua was one of the lawmakers suspended by Dajoh the previous Friday, shortly before his resignation.

The current Speaker, Alfred Berger, who presided over the plenary, ruled on the motion and reduced the suspension period from an initially proposed six months to three months. The decision was made without the usual voice vote typically conducted during such disciplinary proceedings.

In another significant development, the Assembly revisited and overturned an earlier decision to reject several commissioner nominees. Among those confirmed was Timothy Yangien Ornguga, a law lecturer at Benue State University, who had been previously rejected during Dajoh’s tenure as Speaker.

Speaker Berger read a letter from Governor Alia announcing the screening of five additional nominees, including Ornguga and James Dwem. The governor emphasized that despite petitions lodged against some of the nominees, none had been convicted of any crime and appealed for their approval.

Interestingly, during the session, lawmakers who had previously opposed the nominees raised no objections, and the confirmation process moved forward without the customary voice vote, marking a notable shift in the Assembly’s stance.