20 lawmakers have reportedly fled to Kaduna following the arrest of the 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) over their alleged plan to impeach Governor Abdulaziz Yari.
According to Daily Trust, the fleeing members of the Assembly issued a statement, last night, calling on President Buhari to intervene in what they term abuse of office by Governor Yari.
Governor Yari is being accused 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 levelled against the governor 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 lawmakers also accused Yari of crippling governance in the state through his constant travelling abroad and instead of addressing the issues, he "resorted to political intimidation, arrest and detention of principal officers of the House and other supporting staff."
Zamfara State Police Commissioner, Mr Istifanus Shattima, disclosed that he has deployed additional operatives to stop mobs from disrupting normal activities at the House of Assembly.
Shattima told Daily Trust that deployment of troops to the Assembly was in response to the action of a mob which attacked the private residence of the speaker.
The speaker’s residence was attacked by mobs after rumours circulated in the state and the social media, that the lawmakers were planning to impeach Governor Yari.
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