Court stops suspension, impeachment moves against Niger LG chairman

A High Court sitting in Minna has issued an interim injunction halting the suspension and possible impeachment of Aminu Yakubu-Ladan, Chairman of Chanchaga Local Government Area in Niger State.

The order was granted on Friday by Justice Mohammed Mohamed, following a motion filed by the embattled chairman.

The legislative arm of the council had on July 28 issued a suspension notice against Yakubu-Ladan, accusing him of misconduct and abuse of office. The notice was endorsed by 10 lawmakers.

In response, Yakubu-Ladan approached the court seeking to stop any action based on the suspension notice. He had also previously filed a separate suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja, aiming to stop the Niger State Independent Electoral Commission (NSIEC) from conducting local government elections until the current council chairmen complete their tenure.

NSIEC has scheduled the local government elections for November 1 across the state.

Justice Mohamed, in his ruling, restrained the 1st to 10th defendants from taking any further action on the suspension notice pending the determination of the substantive motion. The court also barred the 1st to 11th defendants from initiating or proceeding with any process to remove the chairman from office.

The case was adjourned to August 6 for hearing.