Matawalle's Continuous Impeachment Plot, Justice Aliyu's 'Kangaroo Panel', Unlawful, Tantamount To A Flagrant Breach Of Law– Gusau.
The Deputy Governor of Zamfara State, H.E Barr. Mahdi Aliyu Mohammed Gusau, has issued a statement on the initiation of impeachment proceedings against him by the Zamfara State House Of Assembly and The Zamfara State Chief Judge Hon. Justice Kulu Aliyu.
Read Statement In Full;
Gentlemen of the Press, following the illegal and unconstitutional step taken by the Zamfara State Chief Judge, Honourable Justice Kulu Aliyu, in constituting a panel of investigation on the impeachment notice served against me by the Zamfara State House of Assembly, I find it necessary to make this statement. What is happening in Zamfara State is not only a violation of subsisting Federal High Court order directing the maintenance of the status quo ante bellum but clear robbery. The Court Order being cynically ignored has been duly served on the Chief Judge of Zamfara State, Zamfara State House of Assembly, and the Governor of Zamfara State.
As Nigerians may recall, following the defection of Governor Bello Muhammed Matawalle from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) under which he came to power to the All Progressive Congress Party (APC), my party (PDP) instituted an action at the Federal High Court, challenging the powers of the Zamfara State House of Assembly, as presently constituted, to commence impeachment or any other proceedings against me as the duly-elected Deputy Governor of Zamfara State on the platform of PDP.
Notwithstanding the service of the said Court Order on these parties, Mr Emmanuel C. Ukala, SAN, wrote a letter dated 4th February 2022 to the Honourable Speaker of the Zamfara State House of Assembly drawing his attention and that of his colleagues to the Court Order and the Suit no. FHC/ABJ/CS/650/2021: PDP vs. INEC & 5 Others as well as the need to obey it as lawmakers. He equally wrote a similar letter dated 4th February 2022 to the Hon. Chief Judge on the need to follow the good example set by the Chief Judge of Ondo State in similar situation by not constituting any panel that would be illegal in view of the subsisting Court Order, especially since the Chief Judge is a party to the suit before the Federal High Court Abuja.
Despite the foregoing, the Speaker of the Zamfara State House of Assembly contrived a motion with spurious allegations levelled against me to be investigated. That the Chief Judge has gone ahead to constitute a kangaroo panel of seven members to “investigate” these so-called allegations clearly indicate that some people are desperate to work from question to answer, even at the expense of the rule of law and public good.
Since I have nothing to hide, I am not afraid to submit myself to investigation of any allegations from unbiased and transparent bodies. However, I am compelled by my professional calling as a lawyer to point out that these actions, especially that of the Honourable Chief Judge, is improper, indecorous, inappropriate, and unlawful. It constitutes disobedience to court order and will be tantamount to a flagrant breach of the law as enunciated in a host of Supreme Court Cases such as the Supreme Court cases of Vaswani v Savallakh [1972] (PART 2) ALL NLR 438 and Ojukwu v Governor of Lagos State [1983] 2 NWLR (PART 10) 106 and Mohammed v. Olawunmi [1993] 4 NWLR (PART 287) 254,
On this matter which arose principally because someone wants to eat his cake and still have it, there is already a judicial pronouncement directing parties to maintain status quo ante bellum pending the hearing of the motion before the court. All parties, and most especially the Hon. Chief Judge, cannot be seen to engage themselves in speculation by concluding that the application already before the Court will fail. That is the import of what they are trying to do.
Therefore, in consideration of the position of law in this matter, and my social standing as a law-abiding citizen as well as my professional calling as a lawyer, I wish to register my constraint categorically and unequivocally. Appearing before the Panel purportedly constituted by the Zamfara State Chief Judge will amount to conferring legitimacy on an illegal body and violating subsisting court order on maintenance of status quo ante bellum since 19th day of July 2021. In the meantime, I will continue to respect the judicial process while awaiting the outcome of ongoing processes in court as a law-abiding citizen.
While I fully support every legal move that will safeguard judicial integrity in Nigeria and save our nascent democracy, I appeal to our supporters to remain law abiding and ignore the antics of desperate politicians who are bent on causing a breakdown of law and order in an already fragile state that is profusely bleeding from sustained attacks from bandits.
God bless Zamfara State,
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
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