SINCE John Clark Dabwan was picked as the Speaker of the Plateau State House of Assembly, it has not been easy going. Every day since he mounted the seat, the specter of impeachment kept him company.Dabwan, who represents people of Mangu South, has never quite enjoyed the following of majority of the lawmakers, who see him as favour to Executive and a compromise with the ruling party the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). This is against the background that Dabwan, former Minority Leader, decamped from the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).The Executive supported his emergence as a 'thank you for the good work,' the role he played in not opposing the Executive while he was Majority Leader.That passivity is probably haunting him, as majority of the lawmakers are rooting for a more assertive Speaker who would carry members along in checking the Executive in order to bring development to their various constituencies. But it looks like the Executive has an upper hand, as it prefers a leadership that can be easily compromised.Meanwhile, the Speaker is fighting other forces. For example, based on the party zoning arrangement, Plateau Central Zone, with its five councils, Bokkos, Mangu, Pankshin, Kanke and Kanam, is to produce the Speaker. The Central has seven legislators. Out of the seven, five are qualified to be Speaker. While the Labour party (LP) has two members from Kanam and Mangu North, the remaining five are the former Speaker Istifanus Mwansat, (Pankshin South). Pankshin North, Kanke, Bokkos that back the Dabwan, could have produced the Speaker. The Executive would never back Mwansat because of his antecedents. He was Speaker during Governor Jonah Jang's first tenure.Mwansat as Speaker never received the blessings of the Executive. Instead, the Executive felt comfortable with Emmanuel Goar who was impeached to pave way for Mwansat. The role Mwansat played when the PDP wanted to declare vacant the seats of some lawmakers who decamped to the LP as a result of the crack in PDP still rankles the Executive.Mwansat did not align with the PDP or the Executive but embraced all views, to the annoyance of the Executive. He was subsequently dubbed a betrayal.If the impeachment of Dabwan succeeds, the chances are that Timothy Golu (Kanke Constituency), Diket Plang (Pankshin North) or Titus Alams (Bokkos) could emerge as Speaker. The three, new faces in the state Legislature are considered inexperienced.Golu stands disqualified because he is from the same constituency as the PDP state Chairman, Dr. Haruna Dabin. Jang had appointed Diket Plang as his Special Adviser on Inter-Governmental Affairs but the relationship didn't collapsed and during the election to the House of Assembly in 2011, he did not receive the support from the executive to contest the Pankshin North Constituency. The Executive sponsored another candidate to contest against him. Incidentally, he won because of his grassroots support and popularity with his constituents.Ironically, Plang who it is speculated migrated from Mangu to settle in Pankshin, is a brother to Dabwan.It is likely therefore that he will prefer not to be mentioned as someone who will take over from his brother.The position of speakership is likely to be left to Alams from Bokkos. There are allegations that Executive and the PDP will not be too comfortable with Alams because of his inexperience. Alams was the Public Relations Officer (PRO) with the Plateau State Polytechnic before he came to the House. Though a PDP member, he is seen as sympathetic to the LP, which Senator Joshua Dariye championed in the locality. Will he therefore betray the interest of PDP in favour of the LP as Speaker' Is it certain that he would play the LP agenda as Speaker'Under Dabwan, the House is accused to be the rubber stamp of the Executive. The legislative year is almost ending and it is doubtful if the House is able to meet the mandatory 60 per cent requirement of sittings. People are still expecting to see the House pass bills that will touch the lives of people.The House is accused of being compromised by the Executive, presently, no constituency allowance has been released to the House members for projects while the Executive prefers to meet only the Speaker on behalf of the principal officers to discuss the welfare of the lawmakers. This situation hampers the desire of the lawmakers to meet with the Executive. The Speaker is accused of not carrying along the principal officers.Sources said that no one knows whether the Executive releases overhead to principal members to run their officers as they run their officers with their personal finds.It was learnt that there are other issues compelling and prompting the House to impeach Dabwan.One issue that has irked the lawmakers is the N8 billion loan for water resources and agriculture requested by the Executive and expressly approved by the House. So far, no work has been done and it was on the basis of the development that the House summoned the Commissioner for Finance and Commissioner of Water Resources to appear before it in respect of the N8 billion facilities. The lawmakers wondered why despite the fact that the loan had been accessed, 'but the rehabilitation work is yet to commence on water pipes within the Jos-Bukuru metropolis.' The same summons was issued to the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs to explain why statutory allocations to the councils for the months of June and July have not been released. The committee on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs chaired by Nandong Penap was also mandated to ensure that the impasse between government and workers at the council level is resolved immediately to allow for better productivity.There is another fierce argument between the Nigerian Union Local Government Employees (NULGE) and the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON). While ALGON claimed there was no money to pay the minimum wage, NULGE said there is enough money to pay the minimum wage. But the executive has continued to withhold funds meant for councils but has been releasing salaries and overhead costs, while refusing to conduct council elections.The removal of the Clerk, Mrs. Helen Chundusu another deputy and the Sergeant-at-Arms and his deputy is another burning issue as it a majority of members have accused the leadership of gross incompetence.It was gathered that the face-off between the lawmakers and their Speaker came into the open when the Speaker, allegedly convinced the Executive and the party leadership to remove the Clerk, her deputy and the Sergeants-at-Arms. The announcement of the vacancies for their seats was published in the state owned newspaper, Sunday Standard of July 29, which prompted the majority of the legislators to suspect foul play. The Speaker claimed ignorance of the whole drama, but most of his colleagues refused to believe him. It was also gathered that most of the lawmakers wanted Chundusu and others to retain their seats but the leadership of the party wanted her out in order 'to serve the state government in a higher capacity.'The chairman of the state PDP, Dr. Haruna Dabin, said: 'They (Clerk and others affected by the removal in the House) are not politicians. They are staff of the House. They are not card-carrying members of the PDP. There is no politics in this. As civil servants there are procedures spelt out in their letters of appointment where all the conditions governing their services are stated. The Plateau State House of Assembly Civil Service Commission is doing its job.'The Speaker Dabwan has not responded to the unrest his office is generating.'Activities in Plateau are always held in secrecy and denials by principal officers of the House until what they claimed to be rumours turn out to be the truth. This is what happened when Goar who was removed during Jang's first tenure and replaced by Mwansat,' said a public affairs analyst.The chairman of the House Committee on Information, Plang, dismissed as rumours any plans to impeach the Speaker.The issue of transfer of council staff to their council of origin is another problem but the Executive is trying to implement it. This is the first time such an exercise is being embarked upon since the creation of the state in 1976. The transfer is however part of the recommendation made by the Gbong Gwom Jos Committee on Public Reform in the State. The Executive is set to implement the recommendation without due regard to the law establishing the local government service commission on unified staff.It was also gathered that the state government had directed the Ministries, Departments Agencies (MDA) to carry out employment by replacement and in the last two years they had sacked some people already on the payroll of government. 'These replacements were candidates from the majority of the lawmakers and other key political office holders which angered the lawmakers,' a civil servant said.
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