We intervened in Kogi Assembly crisis to save democracy –Dogara

From Kemi Yesufu, Abuja

SPEAKER of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, said the House in­tervened in the crisis rock­ing the Kogi state House of Assembly to save democ­racy.

He spoke at the weekend when he visited the Olowo of Owo Kingdom in Ondo State, Oba Folagbade Olat­eru Olagbegi in his palace.

According to a statement issued by the Speaker’s Special Adviser on Media, Turaki Hassan, Dogara also explained the decision of the lower House to en­sure a cordial relationship with the Executive, saying the National Assembly is partnering with the Presi­dent Muhammadu Buhari to make the change agenda a reality.

He said: “In some cases, people are questioning why the legislature is quiet on some issues or why we are not fighting the execu­tive?

“We don’t adopt a pos­ture just for the sake of proving that we have sepa­rate powers as allocated to us by the Constitution, we cooperate more to ensure that good is delivered to the people.

“It is only when democ­racy is threatened that we raise our voices. And I re­member we have been do­ing that in this government in how we handled the cri­sis in Kogi State House of Assembly. It was actually an APC leader who led investigation into the mat­ter and we condemned the impunity even as members of the ruling party. This is the change we are talking about.”