End Zamfara Assembly Crisis Now

Zamfara State is in a precarious situation. It has been like this for over a decade. The state has not known real peace since the time of former Governor Abdulaziz Yari, when mass killings and attacks by bandits became the order of the day, forcing him to renounce publicly his position as the chief security officer of the state. Governor Mohammed Matawalle inherited it, and throughout his four-year tenure, the state was home to killers. The situation has not changed under Governor Dauda Lawal.

Insecurity in the state assumed an alarming proportion, with widespread reports of non-state actors demanding and collecting fines from residents as a condition for allowing the people to remain in their homes and even go to farms.

Under this perilous situation, a politically- induced crisis, in whatever form, is the last thing residents of the state need. That is why members of the state House of Assembly must halt the ongoing scuffle that distracts lawmakers from performing their duties and threatens to tear the legislative arm into shreds.
What began when some members demanded that the speaker, Bilyaminu Ismail Moriki, brief the house on the state of insecurity, snowballed into a bigger crisis with suspension, an ongoing litigation, and a factionalisation of the House.

Two things currently define the Zamfara State House of Assembly: litigation and the existence of two speakers. Polarised, the House now has Bilyaminu Moriki and Bashar Gummi (Gummi I Constituency) claiming the speakership position.

We recall that the faction loyal to Speaker Moriki had sat and suspended 10 members led by the factional speaker, Gummi. But this was after the Gummi-led group met and ‘impeached’ Speaker Moriki.
The Assembly under Speaker Moriki suspended the 10 members led by Gummi, accused them of illegal sitting and described their purported impeachment of Moriki as null and void. It also instituted a legal action against the Gummi group. In a swift reaction, the Gummi group rejected their suspension by Moriki, describing it as illegal, unfounded, and politically motivated.

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Amid this confusion, the Gummi group held a parallel sitting in Gusau, where they issued a one-month ultimatum to Governor Dauda Lawal to end all forms of banditry in the state.

“We have directed the governor to re-present the 2025 budget, within one month. We also warned him to end all forms of banditry within one month or face impeachment”, Gummi said.

The lawmakers, drawn from the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party, accused the Governor Lawal administration of failing to tackle the state’s insecurity.

Does the Gummi group have any locus to claim the speakership? Is there any need for the current crisis that has threatened to disrupt legislative activities in the state? With a pending suit, should the parties not wait for the court’s outcome? Amid the worrisome insecurity, how are lawmakers allowing politics to trump economic development? Why are the leaders and other critical stakeholders silent?

However, since the members loyal to Speaker Moriki are 15 while those of the factional speaker Gummi are 9, it is clear who the impostor is. The Gummi faction cannot continue to lay claim to the leadership of the House since it lacks the requisite majority to ensure leadership change. In an assembly of 24 members, it is practically impossible for 9 to dictate things since the figure falls short of the requisite majority.

The issue at stake is not about which faction commands the majority. It is about ensuring peace in a state ravaged by insecurity, which has led to colossal loss of lives, destruction of properties and disruption of farming, the mainstay of the people’s economy.

Zamfara is desirous of an end to the recurring killings and attacks on communities, which have continued to worsen the residents’ woes and exacerbate the level of poverty. This state, understandably, leads other states of the country from behind in virtually all the development indices.

Yet all the lawmakers are interested in is an ego fight that has no positive impact on the lives of the citizens. This is not the sort of representation the good people of Zamfara envisaged when they trooped out en masse to vote for the members of the state house of assembly.

As a newspaper, we join Nigerians of goodwill to condemn the current crisis rocking the Legislature. The state cannot afford an escalation of the situation. The time to end it is now!