Zamfara PDP Chair ‘At A Loss’ Why Chief Judge, State Assembly Violated Court Order To Impeach Deputy Gov

The chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Zamfara State, Bala Mande, says he is at a loss as to why the state’s chief justice and House of Assembly members ignored a court order barring them from impeaching the deputy governor of the state.

Mahdi Aliyu-Gusau, the state’s erstwhile deputy governor, was impeached after members of the state’s House of Assembly voted in support of his removal after adopting the report of a panel that investigated him for alleged gross misconduct and abuse of office.

The state’s Chief Judge, Justice Kulu Aliyu, had inaugurated a seven-member panel to investigate the deputy governor for the allegations.

Mande, while speaking in an Arise TV interview monitored by THE WHISTLER on Thursday, corroborated the deputy governor’s earlier claim that his impeachment was due to his refusal to join the All Progressives Congress (APC).

“The deputy governor didn’t see any reason for decamping and decided to remain in the PDP. After that, they started accusing him of abuse of office, misconduct and so many other offences which he did not do.

“His offence is basically his refusal to follow the governor to the APC and that is his right. He has the right to remain in PDP and for that the governor saw it as an affront and the next thing was this impeachment move,” he said.

Mande expressed shock that the state judiciary and legislature would do Governor Bello Matawalle’s bidding in alleged violation of the court order.

“This case is already in the court of competent jurisdiction, the Abuja High Court. And the last time we were in court, on the 15th of this month, the presiding judge reiterated the earlier order it had issued that all parties should maintain the status quo until the determination of the case.

“The case has not been determined and that order of maintaining status quo is still subsisting. So, I am really at a loss why the State House of Assembly and even the Chief Justice of the state should go against this court order,” he said.

Mande further said that the PDP hopes to fight the injustice meted out to Aliyu-Gusau and also reclaim the governorship seat through the courts.

“The court is the last hope of every person who feels he has been unjustly treated and in this case the deputy governor’s [impeachment] is an act of injustice. They charged him for abuse of office (but) he had no control over the state’s funds. As a matter of fact, for the two years that he has been there, the governor never transited power to his deputy governor even though the governor had embarked on trips abroad for weeks many times, but he never transited power to the deputy governor.

“How would you accuse a person who never had power, who never controlled funds, who controlled nothing…how would you accuse him of misconduct and abuse of office?” he queried.