It was reliably gathered from sources that each member of the House of Assembly received nothing less than N17 million as part of their allowances which have not been paid since February so as to allow serenity in the state before and during the transition period

Barely two weeks after series of dramatic impeachment moves, the Niger State Government has met some of the demands of the members of the state House of Assembly by releasing huge funds for their welfare.

The government, it was learnt released N425 million to the legislators.

With the number of legislators in the Assembly being 25, each of them received N17 million.

With this “settlement”, feelers have it that the battle between the Executive and the Legislative arms in Niger State has come to an abrupt end.

The state government was said to have used the money to silence the legislators.

It was reliably gathered from sources that each member of the House of Assembly received nothing less than N17 million as part of their allowances which have not been paid since February so as to allow serenity in the state before and during the transition period.

According to one of the sources in the state House of Assembly Complex, who pleaded anonymity, the settlement has brought calm in the House, especially as there are no more threats or moves of impeachment against the state Governor, Dr. Babangida Aliyu.

However, it should be noted that the state government on its part instructed the Commissioner of Police to withdraw his men from the Assembly, thereby giving the lawmakers free access to their offices.

The lawmakers had sacked the leadership of the house and elected a new leadership two weeks ago over series of allegations ranging from non-implementation of House resolutions to staff and members welfare and non-release of the statutory allocation to the Assembly for months.

An interim injunction by the court was gotten by Aliyu when the brokered peace meeting with the newly elected principal officers of the House failed.

Officers and men of the Nigeria Police force and other security agencies also mounted security the gate of the House of Assembly as they occupied the Complex for five working days. thus preventing the members from entering into the Assembly complex to carry out their legislative duties.

It was at this stage the new Speaker, Rt. Hon. Isah Kawu, threatened legal action against the Niger State Police Commissioner, Emmanuel Amore, over what was termed the illegal occupation of the state House of Assembly by policemen.

Furthermore, the payment of N17 million to each legislator and the promise of the state government to meet their other demands have brought calm to the storm that was slowly brewing last week.