020 2015: How Sambo-Yero camp captured Kaduna Assembly nationalmirroronline.net/new/2015-how-gambo-yero-camp-captured-kaduna-assembly/ •Impeached Speaker, outsmarted ex-gov. Makarfi group Ahead of the 2015 elections, the Kaduna State House of Assembly, like its Rivers State equivalent, is enmeshed in power tussle. In Kaduna, the fight is a straight one between two powerful camps bent on outsmarting each other for control of the legislative and other political structures put together by the late governor Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa. The former governor died on December 15 last year in a helicopter crash in Bayelsa State on his way back from the funeral of the father of Oronto Douglas, an aide to President Goodluck Jonathan. The Kaduna State brouhaha has turned out to be a crisis of many colours and versions. Apart from some pockets of sectarian crises, Kaduna, the home state of Vice-President Namadi Sambo, unlike Bayelsa State, his principal’s state, has relatively remained the most peaceful entity, regardless of the political turmoil ravaging the nation at the moment. This is not until August 15, when a handful of members of the Assembly alleged to be loyalists of Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero moved a motion for the impeachment of the Speaker, Hon Mu’azu Usman Gangara. The then speaker however escaped impeachment, yet the legislators gave him 30 days to improve on what they called his poor leadership style. While addressing journalists at the Assembly complex on August 16 over the earlier aborted sack, the chairman, Assembly Committee on Information, Hon Yakubu Yusuf, denied the allegation that Vice-President Sambo had given N1 million to each member to remove the speaker, insisting that the earlier move was in the best interest of the state. Yusuf narrated that the speaker’s style of leadership had created a soar relationship between the executive and the judiciary. “All attempts to make him see reason and change failed until the motion for his impeachment was moved by Hon Philemon Usman Gidan Mana on Wednesday,” he explained. He said the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state had waded into the matter, a reason they resolved to give him 30 days of grace. Sunday Mirror gathered that the political fight in Kaduna State is a straight battle of two powerful camps: that of Vice-President Sambo/Governor Yero versus the camp of the former governor of Kaduna State, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, who has most of the late Yakowa loyalists, including the sacked Speaker, Gangara. Political watchers, from the look of things, believe the contending forces in the state are preparing the ground for their candidates to emerge victorious in the 2015 governorship election. Vice-President Sambo has the incumbent governor (Yero) as a sole candidate for now in their camp while it was rumoured that Makarfi tipped the late Yakowa’s Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Lawal Samaila Yakawada, as candidate for 2015. •Journey to the speaker’s impeachment: In a move that took many by surprise, 18 of 34 members of the State House of Assembly sat and impeached the Speaker of the Assembly, Hon Gangara. The 18 members who sat amidst tight security first appointed a protem speaker, Hon Philemon Gidanmana who presided over the impeachment of the Speaker. The 18 men accused the leadership of the House of not living up to expectation in the performance of their duties and as such must go. Irimiya Ishaku Kantiok representing Zonkwa moved for the impeachment, saying that following reports in the papers that some members of the House went to Abuja to collect money from the Vice-President to change the leadership of the house, the leadership should have debunked the claim, but since the report, the leadership failed to say anything or refute the allegation, he consequently called for the sack of the house leadership, saying they did not have what it took to lead the house and as such must be removed. However, Yakubu Yusuf, representing Zaria Kerewu, seconded the motion. After the impeachment, the assembly appointed Hon Shehu Tahir representing Giwa West as the new speaker and Peter Adamu representing Kagarko constituency as his deputy. In his acceptance speech, the new Speaker noted that, “QWhat transpired is a clear manifestation that democracy is driven by the will and voice of the majority. I have viewed and accepted the challenges of the office of the Speaker and assure you that with your support, cooperation and understanding, I will not let you down. “The action you have taken, I believe, must have been informed by the strong and urgent desire to transform and reinvigorate this house for maximum result. “However, for the house to be focused and vibrant to meet the present day reality, all members must resolve to undertake their constitutional mandate with the seriousness it deserves.” According to him, “while the task of making laws squarely rests on the legislature, the need to establish good synergy between the executive arm of government and the judiciary becomes imperative. So let us work as a team for the development of the state,” he said. But in a swift reaction, the former speaker of the House who insisted that he remained the speaker, told newsmen in a press conference that his purported impeachment did not follow due process and as such was a nullity. Citing section 92(2) (C) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Gangara said, the speaker or Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly can only vacate office, “if he is removed from office by a resolution of the House of Assembly by the votes of not less than two third majority of members of the House”. He noted that only 16 members of the House sat to say that he and his leadership had been sacked, insisting that he remained the legitimate Speaker. In a prepared speech, Gangara said, “I Right Honourable Usman Mu’azu Gangara, Speaker, Kaduna State House of Assembly, call on our fellow citizens of Kaduna State that the purported sitting by some members of the Kaduna State House of Assembly is a nullity. The house has since suspended its sitting until further notice. We therefore urge the citizens of Kaduna State, especially our teeming supporters, to remain calm and ignore the impunity going on in the House of Assembly”. This is as Shehu Usman Adamu, the Minority Leader of the House representing Maigana constituency who sat with the Speaker and other members of the leadership during the press conference, alleged that the state government had offered those that claimed to have impeached the Speaker N10 million as incentives to do so. He also fingered the Vice-President in the move, saying that, “We have heard that even the governor’s ‘oga at the top’ is involved in the plot. But we are still investigating the allegation; we know all these things, but we want to get the facts and bring it to you here.” On his part, Ahmed Maiyaki, the director-general, Media and Publicity to Governor Yero, while exonerating his boss from the Assembly crisis which led to the Speaker’s impeachment said, “This is totally untrue. It is the figment of the imagination of those peddling this dangerous rumour. His excellency is a neutral person who believes in the independence of the legislative arm of government. As an arm of government, they have the right as to who leads them. “As a true democrat, his excellency’s major interest is good governance and how to deliver the dividend of democracy to the good people of the state.” Meanwhile, the governor a few days after the impeachment, congratulated the new leadership of the Kaduna State House of Assembly led by Hon. Tahir and his deputy, Hon. Adamu. In a congratulatory letter personally signed by the governor to the newly constituted body of principal officers of the House, Yero commended the members of the House for the maturity exhibited in resolving issues amicably. According to him, “the maturity exhibited is an indication of the State Assembly’s determination in the quest for the stability and advancement of democracy in our dear state.” Yero assured the leadership of his administration’s readiness to cooperate with the legislature in implementing policies and programmes that would improve the living standards of the people. The governor urged the new Speaker and his team of principal officers to also work towards ensuring unity in the House which, according to him, is critical in discharging their mandate of formulating laws that would guarantee safety and development of the people. While assuring the new leadership of his administration’s commitment to harmonious working relations with the House, Yero promised to continue to respect the independence of the legislature in line with the doctrine of separation of powers as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution (as amended). He prayed God to grant the Speaker, his Deputy and the entire principal officers of the Assembly the wisdom and commitment towards effectively discharging their duties. However, President, Civil Rights Congress of Nigeria, Malam Shehu Sani, has said the removal of Kaduna Speaker is nothing but an elitist exercise in the game of power. Sani in a statement said, “There is nothing to mourn about the exit of the old speaker and there is nothing to celebrate about the entry of a new one. It’s simply a case of a puppet replacing a stooge.” “The Kaduna House of Assembly has not performed creditably well and it’s not expected to perform better under the new leadership. The House has behaved dormant, inactive, acquiescent, placid and feeble in the face of progressive decline and emasculation of the state in the hands of the executive since 1999. “The state legislators have allowed themselves to be hypnotised and intimidated by the executive over the years. The Assembly has been denigrated and degraded to the status of temple of endorsement and compliance. They have by their ideology of loyalty supervised the fading glory and fortune of the state.” Sani added, “Removing a speaker or replacing a speaker makes no meaning as long as the elected legislators continue to suffer from a cancerous throat which impedes their ability and courage to speak truth to power. “The impeached speaker deserves no sympathy and the new one deserves no hope. I call on all legislators to save the house from its present image and stand by the spirit of their mandate and of their conscience in the best interest of the state and its people.” Although, the Assembly crisis has subsided as the new speaker continues with his duties, the former speaker has surprisingly remained silent. Nonetheless, political pundits have accused the former speaker of being settled.
Posted on: Wed, 09 Oct 2013 06:07:38 +0000
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