Join our WhatsApp channel HERE for the latest Benue news and updates!
The Benue State House of Assembly has plunged itself into fresh crisis after members voted to extend the suspension of former Speaker Hon. Aondona Dajoh by another six months, a decision that has been roundly condemned as illegal, unconstitutional, and a dangerous precedent.
Dajoh was first suspended indefinitely in July 2025 alongside several principal officers in a controversial move that many described as politically orchestrated. Tuesday’s extension, which came without any fresh offense or judicial pronouncement, has now escalated the matter into a full-blown constitutional dispute.
Legal experts and senior lawyers in the state have described the action as a gross violation of Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution (right to fair hearing) and Section 188 which clearly outlines the only procedure for removing or disciplining a Speaker: impeachment through a two-thirds vote after due investigation. Extending an indefinite suspension without trial or stated end-date, they argue, amounts to legislative tyranny.
During Dajoh’s earlier tenure as Speaker of the 10th Assembly, a similar heavy-handed approach saw eight members suspended for months over alleged infractions. Those lawmakers were only recalled after intense public pressure and legal threats. Critics say the current leadership is repeating the same script, only worse.
Sources within the Assembly revealed that the latest extension was pushed through by members loyal to powerful interests outside the House who have never hidden their discomfort with Dajoh’s independent posture and refusal to be a rubber-stamp Speaker.
As expected, reactions have been swift and sharp. Civil society groups, opposition voices, and even some APC stakeholders have called on the judiciary to intervene urgently before the Assembly completely erodes its own legitimacy. Many fear that if this suspension is allowed to stand, any lawmaker can be silenced indefinitely without recourse to due process.
For now, Hon. Aondona Dajoh remains barred from the Assembly premises, his official vehicles withdrawn, and his salary reportedly stopped since July. Whether the courts will step in to restore sanity or the House leadership will dig in deeper remains the question on every lip in Makurdi tonight.
One thing is clear: what started as an internal leadership tussle has now become a serious test of democratic institutions in Benue State, and the entire country is watching.
