The Speaker, Kwara State House of Assembly, Dr. Ali Ahmad, on Thursday said no court in the country would stop the House of Representatives from taking over the Kogi State House of Assembly.

The Kogi State House of Assembly has been embroiled in crisis since the impeachment of the Speaker of the House, Momoh Lawal, on February 16. Five out of the 20 members of the legislature had removed Lawal and elected Umar Imam as the new speaker.

Ahmad, who is a former Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Justice, in an interview with journalists in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, stressed that the National Assembly, especially the House of Representatives, has the power to take over the functions of any state assembly that is unable to perform its functions.

He described a comment credited to some Kogi State indigenes that they would go to court in order to stop the House of Representatives from taking over the state assembly's function as a baseless threat. He said, "They can go to court 10,000 times, they cannot win. No court will stop the National Assembly from carrying out its function. The judiciary is an arm of government. No court can stop another arm of government from performing its constitutional role.

"The House of Representatives has the constitutional power to take over the functions of any House of Assembly that cannot perform its functions. No court can give that order because it is a specific directive in the constitution that the House of Representative should take over. The previous House of Reps did the same thing during the PDP regime."

Ali also called on President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene and stop impunity in the state. Commending the House of Representatives for intervening in the Kogi crisis, Ahmad added that speakers of the state assemblies would soon make their position known.

Ahmad said Nigeria's constitution should not be blamed for the current developmental challenges in the country. He stated that rather, those responsible for the implementation of the constitution should be blamed.