Gov Yari sends Speaker, others to cell for daring to question his governance

The boldness by Zamfara state House of Assembly members to discuss the dwindling state of affairs in the state has landed the Speaker and some members of the House in police custody.

On the orders of Governor Abdulaziz Yari, the Speaker, Sanusi Rikiji, his deputy, Muhammad Gumi, House majority leader, Isah Abdulmumini, and the chief whip of the house, Abdullahi Dansadau have been arrested by the State Security Services (SSS).

According to a report aired on Voice of America (VOA) Hausa Service on Wednesday, the lawmakers are in detention in Abuja after the governor alleged they were scheming to impeach him from office.

The offence the lawmakers committed it was gathered, was calling for a special sitting with Governor Yari to deliberate on what it termed, “The difficult situation the state found itself,” mainly   as regards governance of the state and how to find a way out.

But Governor Yari, who is said to have misinterpreted the true intent of the lawmakers summon, misunderstood them to be scheming to impeach him, and not wanting to take chances, decided to order their arrest and detention.

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A lawmaker from the state, Umaru Faru, who spoke to VOA, said the unbearable situation in the state is glaring to everyone, “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 5 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, many of the remaining lawmakers have fled the state and were taking refuge in Kaduna state and those who are still there are hiding for fear of arrest.

This is even as the lawmakers late Tuesday, in a statement signed by the chairman, House Committee on Information, Mannir Gidan Jaja, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene, saying Mr Yari is abusing his office.

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