Abuse of power in Zamfara

On Wednesday July 20, 2016, operatives of the Directorate of State Services (DSS) reportedly  swooped on the Speaker of the Zamfara State House of Assembly, Sanusi Rikiji; his Deputy, Muhammad Gumi and other principal officers of the House and hauled them into detention, allegedly on the orders of the State Governor, Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari.

Yari reportedly took the measure because he suspected that the legislators were plotting to impeach him. His suspicion arose from a call by the lawmakers for a “special sitting” with him to discuss what they described as the “difficult situation” in the state.

Expatiating, one of the legislators, Umaru Faru, alleged that Governor Yari had “abandoned” the state as a result of his frequent travels. He was also accused of collecting N10 billion from the bail out fund given to states last year, with little known about how it was spent. Money owed to workers, pensioners, traditional rulers and others remain unpaid.

Yari was also accused by the Chairman, House Committee on Information, Mannir Gidan Jaja, of “corrupt usage of local government funds for state purposes”.

We are concerned about these developments in Zamfara State for a number of reasons. In the first place, there was no constitutionally-confirmed evidence that the State legislators actually wanted to impeach the governor. They only wanted to ask him questions over some gaps in the governance of the state. It is the right of the lawmakers to ask questions when they feel they have the need to do so, especially when it concerns the alleged misuse of public funds.

Secondly, it is even within the constitutional powers of the legislature to commence the impeachment of a governor if (as Section 188 of the Constitution provides) a notice of allegations of “gross misconduct” signed by not less than one-third of members is presented to the Speaker of a State House of Assembly. In this case, no such move had been made as yet. Even if such a move had been made, it was the constitutional right of the lawmakers to do so. The Governor would still have the right to defend himself.

We are scandalised that the DSS would so enthusisatically carry out the Governor’s orders to detain the lawmakers on the suspicion that they wanted to impeach him. The Service has gradually become a willing tool in the hands of the Executive, which now uses it to harass and intimidate their political opponents even in the course of performing their lawful duties.

We call on the DSS to immediately release the Zamfara lawmakers to enable them complete their constitutional task of bringing Governor Yari to account for alleged gross abuse of power. There is no democracy without accountability