Members Hold Parallel Sittings As Crisis Rocks Zamfara Assembly

The Zamfara State House of Assembly has been factionalised with the emergence of two parallel Assembly sittings being conducted by its members, all urging Governor Dauda Lawal to represent the 2025 appropriation bill and address insecurity in one month.

Two separate assembly sittings were held on Wednesday. Ten out of 24 members of the state assembly whom the State Speaker purportedly suspended, Hon Bilyaminu Ismail Moriki, were conducted under Hon Bashar Aliyu Gummi as factional speaker. At the same time, the other side was also held under the state speaker, Hon. Bilyaminu Ismail Moriki.

During the sitting, all the members contributed to the issue of insecurity, Governor Dauda Lawal’s breach of the nation’s constitution, and the indiscriminate dismissal of state civil servants without actual reason.

The lawmakers who reinforced the selection of Hon Bashar Aliyu Gummi as Speaker when the whole house impeached Speaker Moriki early last year for alleged highhandedness and misconduct, among other things, sat in Gusau today, Wednesday, to make far-reaching decisions of public interest.

After deliberations that lasted about two hours, the factional Speaker, Hon. Bashar Aliyu Gummi, representing Gummi 1 State constituency, announced that the members have issued a one-month ultimatum to Governor Dauda Lawal, within which all issues surrounding armed banditry, kidnapping, and other heinous crimes must be resolved.

The factional members, who cut across the political parties of the APC and the PDP, lamented how the state government seemed to be comfortable with the unfortunate security situation in the state.

They accused Governor Dauda of spending vast sums of money on trivial matters. At the same time, poverty and insecurity have taken over the whole 14 local government areas of the state, at a time the state government refused to show sympathy to victims of either bandits’ attack or those who lost their loved ones to the bandits.

They recalled that their purported suspension followed their refusal to remain silent while the carnage by bandits continued unabated in the state.

The lawmakers urged the state government to change its attitude of not supporting security agents who sacrifice their lives to defend citizens by ensuring that it gives them all the necessary support.

Similarly,  the lawmakers who expressed sadness at the poor support of the Dauda Lawal-led administration to the security,  blamed the government for not adequately equipping its own Security Protection Guards (Askarawa), which they also said led to the killing of over half of the squad in their numerous confrontations with criminals.

They noted that the governor could comfortably assist families of slain members of the Security Protection Guards who lost their lives in the line of duty, “even from his N2 billion monthly Security vote.” They urged him to immediately address that, even with N10 million for each affected family.

They implored the state government to immediately rescind its decision, which saw the sacking of over 4,000 civil servants without due process, noting that this was detrimental to the state, particularly owing to Zamfara’s insecure posture.

The factional law makers argued that if so-called friends of the governor,  particularly those coming from Niger, Kaduna and Adamawa states could be building multi billion naira mansions and buying properties in their respective states shortly after visiting their Zamfara governor friend, the governor would not have any moral right nor justification to downsize the state workforce with the flimsy excuse of inadequate resources.

Accordingly, they maintained that all those sacked should be returned to their duty posts and their denied salaries and other entitlements should be paid in arrears. They also described their suspension as “illegal, misleading and unfounded. Saying how can an impeached speaker, by 18 out of 24 members, suspend other members

With this development, a new political development emerged with two parallel House of Assembly sittings.

Members who attended the parallel sittings include: Hon. Aliyu Ango Kagara, Member Representing Talata Mafara South, Hon. Ibrahim Tudu Tukur Bakura, Member Representing Bakura, Hon.  Nasiru Abdullahi Maru,  Member, Representing Maru North. Hon. Faruk Musa Dosara, Member representing Maradun 1, Hon Bashar Aliyu, Member representing Gummi 1, Hon Barrister Bashir Abubakar Masama, Member representing Bukkuyum North, Hon Amiru Ahmed, Member representing Tsafe West, Hon Basiru Bello, Member representing Bungudu West and Hon Mukhtaru Nasiru, Member representing Kaura Namoda North.