Court restores Gusau as Zamfara deputy governor — weeks after end of tenure

The federal high court in Abuja on Wednesday nullified the impeachment of Mahdi Gusau and reinstated him as deputy governor of Zamfara state.

Gusau, who had been at loggerheads with Bello Matawalle, immediate past governor of Zamfara, was impeached in February 2022 by the state’s house of assembly despite a restraining order.

While Matawalle defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2021, his deputy remained in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Gusau and the PDP asked a court to declare Matawalle’s seat vacant in the wake of his defection.

The former deputy governor was then accused of “insubordination, abuse of office, and criminal self-enrichment” by a committee of the assembly set up by Kulu Aliyu, chief judge of the state.

He was impeached on the aforementioned grounds.

Thereafter, Gusau prayed the court to restore him as deputy governor.

‘NO RIGHT TO RESORT TO SELF-HELP’

Delivering his verdict, Inyang Ekwo, the presiding  judge, described the impeachment as “null and void and of no effect whatsoever”.

“I agree with the learned silk for the plaintiff/applicant that the court must protect its dignity by reprimanding the 5th, 6th and 7th defendants (speaker, governor and chief judge) and undoing the steps, acts or proceedings taken in the impeachment while this suit was pending,” NAN quoted Ekwo as saying.

“Once parties have turned their dispute over to the court for determination, the right to resort to self-help ends.

“So, it is not permissible for one of the parties to take any step of complete helplessness, or which may give the impression that the court is being used as a mere subterfuge, to tie the result of litigation and the appropriate order of court before acting further.”

Gusau’s tenure as deputy governor of Zamfara expired on May 29.

(Cable)