Rikiji and other principal officers of
the Assembly, who were picked up on Tuesday in Gusau, the state capital,
are said to be currently detained in Abuja.
Those said to be detained along with him
are the Deputy Speaker, Muhammad Gumi; the Majority Leader, Isah
Abdulmumini; and the Chief Whip, Abdullahi Dansadau.
The House of Assembly, however, on
Wednesday, listed six impeachable offences against Yari, in an apparent
move to begin an impeachment process against the governor.
A statement issued in Gusau by the
Chairman, Zamfara State House of Assembly’s Committee on Information,
Alhaji Mannir Gidan-Jaja, accused the governor of misappropriating
billions of naira from the state coffers.
It listed the money allegedly
misappropriated to include N11bn bailout, N1bn agricultural loan
released to the state by the Central Bank of Nigeria and “corrupt abuse
of local government funds.”
The Assembly also accused the governor
of failing to remit funds deducted for pensions and gratuities to
pension fund administrators, as provided by law.
According to the statement, the governor
had also ignored a resolution of the Assembly not to appoint Alhaji
Murtala Jangebe as the Chairman of the state Universal Basic Education
Board.
It said that the Assembly had passed a
vote of no confidence on Jangebe, after he was allegedly found to have
misappropriated over N1bn belonging to the board in 2014.
The statement accused the governor of
frequent foreign trips which, the lawmakers argued, had negative impact
on the day-to-day running of the government, apart from imposing
financial burden on the state.
The lawmakers condemned the arrest of the Speaker, his deputy, Majority Whip and supporting staff of the assembly by the DSS.
The lawmakers described the arrest as a clear interference in the functions of the legislature.
The statement urged President Muhammadu Buhari to caution the DSS against further interference in the matter.
“We are also demanding the unconditional
release of our principal officers, who are currently under detention
with the DSS in Abuja,’’ the lawmakers said.
The state Assembly also alleged that the
governor did not release monthly cash allocation to the Ministries,
Departments and Agencies, including the state Assembly. They also
questioned the usage of funds meant for local governments for state
purposes.
Furthermore, the legislature expressed
its distaste for the appointment of the Chairman of SUBEB, who it said
should not occupy public office.
Responding, Yari described as wild all allegations levelled against him by the state assembly.
Yari, who spoke through one of his
Special Advisers to the governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Dosara, faulted the
six-point grudge against the governor, who he claimed the President had
publicly acknowledged and praised for being one of the best performing
governors in the country.
On the allegation of low budgetary
release, Dosara said, “A checklist of all the states in the federation
shows that there is virtually a blanket paucity of funds nationwide and
Zamfara State cannot be an exception from this national setback.”
On the allegation against the SUBEB’s
chairman appointment in spite of alleged corruption levelled against him
by the lawmakers, Dosara said Jangebe had yet to be found guilty by any
court of law of competent jurisdiction.
He added, “Suffice it to say that most,
if not all the claims in the legislators grievances, are baseless,
unfounded and self-seeking, with the aim of inciting the general public
against the governor for reasons best known to them.”
He said the governor also challenged the
legislative members to provide any evidence or proof of his use of
state funds on his numerous trips outside the state or the country.
On the demand for the release of the
principal officers currently answering questions with the security
agencies, he said it was incomprehensible to accuse the governor or
even ask him to secure the release of their people because the governor
has no hand in their plight.
“He is neither the DG, SSS nor the IG of Police,” he said.
Dosara wondered why the lawmakers were
calling on Buhari to intervene in the crisis with Yari after “they
collectively disrespected the President by boycotting all his activities
when he visited the state last week.”
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