Get Guardian on GoogleThe Zamfara State House of Assembly has impeached the deputy governor, Mahdi Gusau.
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Gusau’s impeachment comes barely three hours after the House received the report of the investigative panel constituted by the state’s chief judge, Kulu Aliyu.
The chairman of the panel, Justice Haladu Tanko, said the committee demonstrated professional excellence and due diligence in the conduct of the assignment.
A total of 20 members were present at Wednesday’s sitting of the Assembly and they all voted in support of the impeachment.
The House has 24 members and requires at least 18 of them to vote to remove the deputy governor from office.
The Speaker of the House, Nasiru Magarya, said the investigative panel found the deputy governor guilty of the charges against him.
Magarya, had commended the chairman and members of the committee for the job and promised to look clause by clause at the report in accordance with section 188 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
Earlier on Wednesday, the investigative panel set up by the state’s Chief Judge Aliyu to investigate allegations against Ali presented its report to the state House of Assembly.
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Tanko commended the prosecution counsel for following due diligence and ethics of the law profession in the course of the proceedings.
The deputy governor had been subject to calls for impeachment after he refused to join Governor Bello Matatwalle in defecting to the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Matawalle was elected in 2019 in an election where the Supreme Court disqualified candidates of the APC, who had been declared winners in the 2019 elections.
The House had served Ali the impeachment notice through the Secretary to the State Government before asking the Chief Judge to constitute an investigative panel to verify the allegations against the deputy governor.
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