Zamfara Governor Explains Why Lawmakers Want Him Out, Fails To Add He’s Arresting Them For Making The Move

Zamfara Governor, Abdulaziz Yari, said the grievances of the state legislature, which led to impeachment process against him were personal, selfish and against public interest.

The governor had ordered the  arrests of the lawmakers following reports of his impeachment, the Speaker of the assembly and three others are said to be in the custody of the DSS with others currently in Kaduna running away from arrest…

Yari made the remark while fielding questions from journalists on Saturday in Gusau.

“There has never been any bill brought to me by the House of Assembly that l did not assent to nor have l ever spent money without their approval,” he said.

He said that the lawmakers’ claim that he had refused to see them to discuss matters of public interest was untrue. He explained that the legislators were not able to see him because they did not follow the “right channel”.

“This failure of the legislators to follow the right channel led to the people of the state to suspect that the lawmakers were planning evil,” the governor said.

He said that he had always had a cordial working relationship with the lawmakers. “As members of the same political party, we have always discussed the problems and prospects of our party and proffered solutions.

“At the moment, the only challenge we have is that of security, which we are now adequately addressing with help from the Federal Government,” he said.

The governor maintained that the issues raised by the legislators for his impeachment were not his to resolve.

According to him, since there is a party mechanism in place that handles such issues, it will be tabled and addressed by the party accordingly.

“This is so, so that we can continue as members of one family,” he stated.

Meanwhile, following the arrest of speaker of Zamfara State House of Assembly, Alhaji Sanusi Garba Rikiji, his deputy, Muhammad Abubakar Gumi, the majority leader, Isah Abdulmumini and the chief whip, Abdullahi Dansadau by operatives of the Department of State Service (DSS) and detained in Abuja over their alleged plan to impeach Governor Abdulaziz Yari.

The remaining 20 members of the Assembly have fled to Kaduna, multiple sources say Governor Yari, a close ally to President Muhammadu Buhari on hearing about the plans by the Lawmakers, ordered for their arrest.

In a statement issued by the fleeing lawmakers during the week, they called on President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene in what they described as abuse of office by Governor Yari.

Though the legislators were short of saying they would impeach the governor, they accused him of misappropriating financial allocation to the state, and failing to implement the budget in the last five years.

The statement, which was signed by the House Committee Chairman on Information, Mannir Aliyu Gidan Jaja, also accused the governor of “corrupt usage of local government funds for state purposes.”

Other charges against the governors by the legislators include “Inadequate explanation of N1 billion commercial agriculture (CBN) loan, non-remittance of pension funds to pension administrators, non-remittance of 5 percent emirate councils funds, the gross misappropriation of bailout funds to the state by the federal government to settle workers’ salaries, including N10b for 2014 and N1.46b in 2016.”

The assembly members also accused Governor Yari of crippling governance in the state through his constant travelling abroad and his refusal to address the issues raised by them.

“Rather he resorted to political intimidation, arrest and detention of principal officers of the House and other supporting staff.”
The statement, therefore, called on President Buhari to give directive for unconditional release of the affected officers.