Zamfara Impeachment Plot: DSS arrests Lawmakers
Thu Jul 21, 2016 07:58:am National
2.3K By Buchi Obichie
The Speaker of the Zamfara State House of Assembly, Sanusi Rikiji, his deputy, Muhammad Gumi, and other principal officers of the Assembly, including the House Majority Leader, Isah Abdulmumini, and the Chief Whip, Abdullahi Dansadau, have been detained in Abuja, by the Department of State Service, DSS.
According to a report by the Voice of America Hausa Service, the Zamfara Lawmakers were allegedly detained on the order of Governor Abdulaziz Yari, who accused them of plotting to impeach him.
Trouble reportedly began for the lawmakers after the Assembly called for a special sitting with Governor Yari to discuss what it called "the difficult situation the state found itself," especially as regards governance of the state and how to find a way out.
However, according to the lawmakers, Governor Yari ordered their arrest and detention, as he misunderstood their mission, and assumed it was just a ploy to impeach him.
One of the lawmakers, Umaru Faru, told the VOA that everyone knew the precarious situation that the state had found itself.
In his words: "People accuse the Governor of abandoning the state, and they are also complaining about the handling of the state resources, especially the bailout funds released specifically to pay workers' salaries.
"The money came but no one knows what happened to it. As we speak, local government staff, pensioners have not been paid, in fact, our traditional rulers have not been paid their five per cent constitutional allocation for several months, civil servants pay was cut and some of them were even sacked because of dwindling revenue. However, they were not paid their entitlement even after the bailout came. That is why we invited them, definitely not for impeachment purposes."
According to reports, the remaining lawmakers have fled the state and were taking refuge in Kaduna State for fear of arrest.
However, the state Commissioner of Information, Umaru Bukkuyum, denied the detention; stating that the lawmakers were "just invited to Abuja for a meeting on how to find solution to all the problems."
According to a report by the Voice of America Hausa Service, the Zamfara Lawmakers were allegedly detained on the order of Governor Abdulaziz Yari, who accused them of plotting to impeach him.
Trouble reportedly began for the lawmakers after the Assembly called for a special sitting with Governor Yari to discuss what it called "the difficult situation the state found itself," especially as regards governance of the state and how to find a way out.
However, according to the lawmakers, Governor Yari ordered their arrest and detention, as he misunderstood their mission, and assumed it was just a ploy to impeach him.
One of the lawmakers, Umaru Faru, told the VOA that everyone knew the precarious situation that the state had found itself.
In his words: "People accuse the Governor of abandoning the state, and they are also complaining about the handling of the state resources, especially the bailout funds released specifically to pay workers' salaries.
"The money came but no one knows what happened to it. As we speak, local government staff, pensioners have not been paid, in fact, our traditional rulers have not been paid their five per cent constitutional allocation for several months, civil servants pay was cut and some of them were even sacked because of dwindling revenue. However, they were not paid their entitlement even after the bailout came. That is why we invited them, definitely not for impeachment purposes."
According to reports, the remaining lawmakers have fled the state and were taking refuge in Kaduna State for fear of arrest.
However, the state Commissioner of Information, Umaru Bukkuyum, denied the detention; stating that the lawmakers were "just invited to Abuja for a meeting on how to find solution to all the problems."
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