Bayelsa Lawmakers defy gunmen, elect Obolo new Speaker

Gunmen who invaded Bayelsa State House of Assembly Monday morning failed to stop the impeachment of the Speaker of the House, Tonye Isenah, by members of the state legislature.

The lawmakers regrouped after the mayhem to elect a new Speaker, putting an end to the reign of the former Speaker. Accordingly, Monday Obolo, representing Southern Ijaw Constituency II in the State House of Assembly, emerged the new Speaker of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly. The former Speaker had flee with the mace at the sound of gunshots in the House but this could not stop the lawmakers from carrying out the plot against him.

The invasion of the House by gunmen was said to be connected to the leadership crisis in the Assembly over pressure on the Speaker, Tonye Isenah, to resign and stay away for the election of the Majority Leader of the House of Assembly, Monday Obolo, as the new Speaker.

It was gathered that Isenah had on Friday acquainted other lawmakers and bureaucratic staff of the House of Assembly that he would resign on Monday, but the lawmakers were ambushed in the early hours of Monday during a closed door session, when the gunmen invaded the chamber and flee with the Mace. However, Monday Obolo representing Southern Ijaw 2 later emerged the new Speaker of the House.