{"id":161589,"date":"2025-05-07T22:52:40","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T21:52:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/ex-lawmakers-back-lawyers-urge-nass-takeover-of-benue-zamfara-assemblies"},"modified":"2025-05-07T23:55:49","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T22:55:49","slug":"ex-lawmakers-back-lawyers-urge-nass-takeover-of-benue-zamfara-assemblies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ex-lawmakers-back-lawyers-urge-nass-takeover-of-benue-zamfara-assemblies","title":{"rendered":"Ex-lawmakers back lawyers, urge NASS takeover of Benue, Zamfara assemblies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>The Coalition of Former Nigerian Lawmakers, CoFoNiL, has urged the National Assembly to immediately assume legislative responsibilities in Benue and Zamfara States, citing constitutional authority in light of ongoing crises within the respective state houses of assembly.<\/p>\n

This call follows a protest held on Tuesday by over 1,000 lawyers under the banner of the Save Benue and Zamfara Coalition, who stormed the National Assembly complex in Abuja, demanding federal intervention to address the escalating legislative turmoil in both states.<\/p>\n

In a statement signed by its spokesperson, Dapo Olowolagba, CoFoNiL hailed the protest as a \u201cpatriotic move to save democracy,\u201d and lauded the participating lawyers as \u201cheroes of democracy who mean well for the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe lawyers have done exactly what is expected of anyone knowledgeable in constitutional matters and genuinely concerned about the unity, peace, and progress of Nigeria, as symbolised by the Coat of Arms,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n

Referencing Section 11(4) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), Olowolagba stressed that the National Assembly possesses the legal authority to take over legislative functions in any state whose House of Assembly is incapacitated.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe same Constitution authorises the National Assembly to summon governors and other sub-national actors. This is not an intrusion into state matters but a constitutional duty to prevent the breakdown of law and order,\u201d he asserted.<\/p>\n

Recalling historical precedent, he added: \u201cDuring the 3rd Assembly, the National Assembly summoned the then-Governor of Benue State. He appeared, the issues were resolved, and he was allowed to go. That\u2019s how democracy works.\u201d<\/p>\n

Olowolagba cautioned that the prevailing instability in Benue and Zamfara may prompt a declaration of a state of emergency if left unresolved.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe saw what happened in Rivers State in March. Benue and Zamfara are following a similar path. The difference is that the President has not yet taken drastic action.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese states have had ample time to reconcile, reinstate unconstitutionally suspended lawmakers, and return to proper legislative business,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

CoFoNiL reiterated its full support for the lawyers\u2019 demand that the National Assembly intervene by taking over the legislative functions of the embattled state assemblies to forestall further political deterioration.<\/p>\n

Recall that the Save Benue and Zamfara Coalition, comprising over 1,000 lawyers, protested to the National Assembly on Tuesday, calling for urgent federal involvement.<\/p>\n

In Zamfara State, 10 lawmakers were suspended in February 2024, allegedly on the orders of Governor Dauda Lawal, following their criticism of worsening insecurity in the state.<\/p>\n

In Benue State, 13 lawmakers were reportedly suspended after declining to implement Governor Hyacinth Alia\u2019s directive to suspend the state\u2019s Chief Judge.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Nigeria<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. The Coalition of Former Nigerian Lawmakers, CoFoNiL, has urged the National Assembly to immediately assume legislative responsibilities in Benue and Zamfara States, citing constitutional authority in light of ongoing crises within the respective state houses of assembly. This call follows a protest held on Tuesday by over 1,000 lawyers under the banner […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":161588,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,29,28,14,2660],"tags":[331,678,254,150],"class_list":["post-161589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-homepage-english","category-policy","category-to-homepage","tag-benue","tag-nass","tag-nigeria","tag-zamfara"],"yoast_head":"\nEx-lawmakers back lawyers, urge NASS takeover of Benue, Zamfara assemblies - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Coalition of Former Nigerian Lawmakers, CoFoNiL, has urged the National Assembly to immediately assume legislative r ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ex-lawmakers-back-lawyers-urge-nass-takeover-of-benue-zamfara-assemblies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ex-lawmakers back lawyers, urge NASS takeover of Benue, Zamfara assemblies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Coalition of Former Nigerian Lawmakers, CoFoNiL, has urged the National Assembly to immediately assume legislative r ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ex-lawmakers-back-lawyers-urge-nass-takeover-of-benue-zamfara-assemblies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-07T21:52:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-07T22:55:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/05\/sm_1746645983.225398.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ex-lawmakers-back-lawyers-urge-nass-takeover-of-benue-zamfara-assemblies#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ex-lawmakers-back-lawyers-urge-nass-takeover-of-benue-zamfara-assemblies\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Ex-lawmakers back lawyers, urge NASS takeover of Benue, Zamfara assemblies\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-07T21:52:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-07T22:55:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ex-lawmakers-back-lawyers-urge-nass-takeover-of-benue-zamfara-assemblies\"},\"wordCount\":444,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ex-lawmakers-back-lawyers-urge-nass-takeover-of-benue-zamfara-assemblies#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/05\/sm_1746645983.225398.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Benue\",\"NASS\",\"Nigeria\",\"Zamfara\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"homepage-english\",\"Policy\",\"to-homepage\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ex-lawmakers-back-lawyers-urge-nass-takeover-of-benue-zamfara-assemblies#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ex-lawmakers-back-lawyers-urge-nass-takeover-of-benue-zamfara-assemblies\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ex-lawmakers-back-lawyers-urge-nass-takeover-of-benue-zamfara-assemblies\",\"name\":\"Ex-lawmakers back lawyers, urge NASS takeover of Benue, Zamfara assemblies - Nigeria\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ex-lawmakers-back-lawyers-urge-nass-takeover-of-benue-zamfara-assemblies#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ex-lawmakers-back-lawyers-urge-nass-takeover-of-benue-zamfara-assemblies#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/05\/sm_1746645983.225398.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-07T21:52:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-07T22:55:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"The Coalition of Former Nigerian Lawmakers, CoFoNiL, has urged the National Assembly to immediately assume legislative r ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ex-lawmakers-back-lawyers-urge-nass-takeover-of-benue-zamfara-assemblies#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ex-lawmakers-back-lawyers-urge-nass-takeover-of-benue-zamfara-assemblies\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ex-lawmakers-back-lawyers-urge-nass-takeover-of-benue-zamfara-assemblies#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/05\/sm_1746645983.225398.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/05\/sm_1746645983.225398.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":675,\"caption\":\"Ex-lawmakers back lawyers, urge NASS takeover of Benue, Zamfara assemblies\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ex-lawmakers-back-lawyers-urge-nass-takeover-of-benue-zamfara-assemblies#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ex-lawmakers back lawyers, urge NASS takeover of Benue, Zamfara assemblies\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/\",\"name\":\"Africa Press | Nigeria | Homepage\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/author\/cfeditoren\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ex-lawmakers back lawyers, urge NASS takeover of Benue, Zamfara assemblies - Nigeria","description":"The Coalition of Former Nigerian Lawmakers, CoFoNiL, has urged the National Assembly to immediately assume legislative r ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ex-lawmakers-back-lawyers-urge-nass-takeover-of-benue-zamfara-assemblies","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ex-lawmakers back lawyers, urge NASS takeover of Benue, Zamfara assemblies","og_description":"The Coalition of Former Nigerian Lawmakers, CoFoNiL, has urged the National Assembly to immediately assume legislative r ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ex-lawmakers-back-lawyers-urge-nass-takeover-of-benue-zamfara-assemblies","og_site_name":"Nigeria","article_published_time":"2025-05-07T21:52:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-05-07T22:55:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":675,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/05\/sm_1746645983.225398.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ex-lawmakers-back-lawyers-urge-nass-takeover-of-benue-zamfara-assemblies#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ex-lawmakers-back-lawyers-urge-nass-takeover-of-benue-zamfara-assemblies"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Ex-lawmakers back lawyers, urge NASS takeover of Benue, Zamfara assemblies","datePublished":"2025-05-07T21:52:40+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-07T22:55:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ex-lawmakers-back-lawyers-urge-nass-takeover-of-benue-zamfara-assemblies"},"wordCount":444,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ex-lawmakers-back-lawyers-urge-nass-takeover-of-benue-zamfara-assemblies#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/05\/sm_1746645983.225398.jpg","keywords":["Benue","NASS","Nigeria","Zamfara"],"articleSection":["all news","head lines","homepage-english","Policy","to-homepage"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ex-lawmakers-back-lawyers-urge-nass-takeover-of-benue-zamfara-assemblies#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ex-lawmakers-back-lawyers-urge-nass-takeover-of-benue-zamfara-assemblies","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ex-lawmakers-back-lawyers-urge-nass-takeover-of-benue-zamfara-assemblies","name":"Ex-lawmakers back lawyers, urge NASS takeover of Benue, Zamfara assemblies - Nigeria","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ex-lawmakers-back-lawyers-urge-nass-takeover-of-benue-zamfara-assemblies#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ex-lawmakers-back-lawyers-urge-nass-takeover-of-benue-zamfara-assemblies#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/05\/sm_1746645983.225398.jpg","datePublished":"2025-05-07T21:52:40+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-07T22:55:49+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"The Coalition of Former Nigerian Lawmakers, CoFoNiL, has urged the National Assembly to immediately assume legislative r ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ex-lawmakers-back-lawyers-urge-nass-takeover-of-benue-zamfara-assemblies#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ex-lawmakers-back-lawyers-urge-nass-takeover-of-benue-zamfara-assemblies"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ex-lawmakers-back-lawyers-urge-nass-takeover-of-benue-zamfara-assemblies#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/05\/sm_1746645983.225398.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/05\/sm_1746645983.225398.jpg","width":1200,"height":675,"caption":"Ex-lawmakers back lawyers, urge NASS takeover of Benue, Zamfara assemblies"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ex-lawmakers-back-lawyers-urge-nass-takeover-of-benue-zamfara-assemblies#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ex-lawmakers back lawyers, urge NASS takeover of Benue, Zamfara assemblies"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/","name":"Africa Press | Nigeria | Homepage","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/author\/cfeditoren"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161589\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/161588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}