Parliament

18 lawmakers endorse impeachment proceedings against Dep Gov

Eighteen of the 22 members of the Zamfara House of Assembly have thrown their weight behind the impeachment of the Deputy Governor, Alhaji Mahadi Aliyu-Gusau.

When the impeachment notice issued against the deputy governor was served, 18 of the 22 lawmakers voted that impeachment proceedings be instituted against him.

“This followed a motion at the house plenary moved by the deputy speaker of the house and Chairman, House Committee on Public Accounts, Musa Bawa (APC-Tsafe East) and seconded by Yusuf Kanoma (APC- Maru North).

“The Speaker, Nasiru Magarya, who presided over the plenary, directed the Clerk of the House, Shehu Saidu-Anka to effect voting for every member of the house that attended the plenary as required by the law.

“Eighteen out of the 22 members of the House voted in support of the impeachment of the deputy governor.

“The speaker announced the assembly’s resolution requesting the state Chief Judge, Justice Kulu Aliyu, to immediately constitute a panel to investigate all the allegations levelled against the deputy governor,” a statement issued by the Director-General, Press Affairs and Public Relations to the house, Mustafa Jafaru-Kaura, said.

READ ALSO: Zamfara Dep Gov faces impeachment

The statement said action taken by the House was in line with the provision of Section 188 (5) of the constitution, as amended.

The House had listed the allegations against the deputy governor to include abuse of office in breach of Sections 190 and 193 (1), (2) (a)(b)(c), of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended.

It also alleged self-enrichment using public funds, including criminal diversion of state funds, conspiracy to defraud the state and approval of dubious retirements in his office.

The deputy governor was accused of failure to discharge Constitutional duties which give rise to insubordination.

But the real problem started when the deputy governor refused to defect from PDP to APC.

TheStar