Two years, three months after assuming the office of Speaker of the Kaduna State House of Assembly, Alhaji Mu’azu Usman Gangara, who is representing Giwa East constituency, was ousted by his colleagues.
On June 6, 2011, Gangara and his deputy Dr Mato Dogara, that is representing Lere West constituency, took the oath of offices of Speaker and Deputy Speaker respectively with a promise to give attention to oversight functions and enact laws that would have direct bearing on the people.
But these promises were shattered on Tuesday, September 24, 2013 when the duo lost their positions, following their absence at the sitting. Sunday Trust gathered that several attempts in the past to remove the Speaker and other principal officers had failed. So, their absence at Tuesday’s sitting made it easier for members who were not satisfied with their performance to execute their pre-planned agenda.
At the end of the first legislative session last year, it was gathered that some members held a meeting after the plenary session seeking for the impeachment of the Speaker over allegation that he is too weak and not capable of delivering and representing the assembly.
Also on August 14, 2013, members, after holding a closed door meeting that lasted for over eight hours, gave the leadership of the house a 30-day ultimatum to either change its leadership style or resign.
This happened after efforts to impeach the speaker at the meeting had failed as the members, who wanted a change in leadership could not get two-third majority. Sunday Trust gathered that only 20 members signed for the Speaker’s impeachment when they need 22 signatures. The Speaker and others, it was learnt, had to beg. However, the 30-day ultimatum expired on September 14. The political atmosphere in the Assembly has been tense since the expiration of the ultimatum.
How they were removed
On that fateful day, the Clerk of the House, Barrister Umma Hikima Aliyu explained during the sitting that the Speaker and his Deputy did not communicate the reasons for being absent to her. According to her, order 1, rule 8 of the House rules allows the house to appoint of a Speaker Pro-tempore to preside over a sitting in the absence of the Speaker and his Deputy.
The 18 members, who were present at the sitting, nominated Philemon Gidan-Mana Usman, who is representing Makera constituency, as Speaker Pro-tempore to preside over the sitting and he assumed the seat at exactly 11a.m on that day.
After going through the agenda for the day, a member representing Zonkwa constituency, Barrister Irimiya Kantiok drew the attention of the House to inciting publication in three different periodicals (newspapers or magazines) which stated that the plot to impeach the Speaker was planned on the 8th and 9th of August during Sallah break when some members visited Vice President Namadi Sambo at his house.
“In these publications, names of some members were mentioned and negative comments were made about them. This matter has to do with our collective integrity. By the rule of the house, I can raise this matter of privilege of the Assembly without notice. More so, if the matter is based on publication in a newspaper or magazine. We are being seen as people who don’t have a mind of our own; people who cannot think about what is proper for the Assembly and Kaduna State,” Barrister Kantiok said.
Speaking further, he said, “On August 14, we sat as members after observing that the Assembly has gone comatose. The relationship between the members and the leadership has broken down. We agreed as members and advised the Speaker to resign to save the Assembly from untold embarrassment. He and other principal officers pleaded that we should give him time to resign honourably. We agreed as colleagues. We expect that within this one month, he will resign. None of us goes to the press to tell them what is happening. Instead of allowing the last one-month to be a period of sober reflection, it became a period of smear campaign against our persons and against the Assembly.
“I am saying it repeatedly. I swear by God, nobody gave anybody any money to ask the Speaker to go. Nobody held any meeting anywhere either with the Vice President or the Governor on this matter. We never gave press interview on this issue. But all we got in return was a snobbish response and a one-man media war.
“Now, we have found the situation on our hands. The Speaker and his Deputy, unknown to us, decided to be absent from sitting. Maybe because we gave them up to September 14, they decided to stay away quietly. We acknowledge that they have stayed away quietly. But we cannot be a sheep without a shepherd. This Assembly must continue. Kaduna state cannot wait for one or two persons.
“The publications further show that the relationship between the members and the leadership has further gone into deep valleys and can never be retrieved. I am pained because the Assembly has become a laughing stock. People also know that the Assembly has gone comatose. We need to revive the Assembly,” he said.
Kantiok went further to move a motion that both the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker be removed immediately and that another Speaker and Deputy be elected. This motion was seconded by a member representing Zaria Kewaye, Yakubu Yusuf.
When the Speaker Pro-tempore asked the members if they wanted Honourable Muazu Gangara and his Deputy, Matoh Dogara to be removed, they all echoed ‘Yes’. “Honourable Mu’azu Gangara and Matoh Dogara seize to be the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of this honourable Assembly beginning from now,” Philemon said.
Esther Abu, who is representing Sanga constituency, thereafter nominated Shehu Usman Tahir, who is representing Giwa constituency as the Speaker. The nomination was seconded by Muntaka Bashir Zuntu, who is representing Kubau constituency. There was no objection to the nomination.
Also, Bala Yunusa, who is representing Tudun-Wada constituency nominated Peter Adamu, who is representing Kagarko constituency as Deputy Speaker. Adamu’s nomination was seconded by Ahmed Hassan Juma’are, who is representing Makarfi constituency. There was no objection to his nomination as well.
The oath of office was administered to the duo after their nominations as Speaker and Deputy Speaker were accepted. Our reporter, however, observed jubilation on the faces of both members and staff of the Assembly.
It was, however, observed that the mace used in the Assembly during the proceeding which led to the removal of the Speaker was not the usual one. It was an old one. Our reporter learnt that it was taken from the store. Sunday Trust learnt that the embattled speaker, Muazu Usman Gangara had earlier come before the sitting to take away the mace.
But in a swift reaction to his purported removal, the embattled Speaker, who has the mace in his possession, insisted that he is still in charge as the Speaker of the Assembly. To him and his cohorts, the purported sitting by some members of the House was null and void, saying that the House had suspended its sittings until further notice.
“I, as the Speaker and other honourable members have always taken the path of honour not to allow the fragile peace in the State to be disrupted. And we shall continue to ensure the pursuance of peace in the State. We therefore urge the citizens of the State to remain calm and ignore the impunity going on in the Assembly. We are committed to peace and development of the State House of Assembly and our dear nation,” Gangara said while addressing newsmen.
Election of new officers
Meanwhile, barely 24 hours after the controversial emergence of a new Speaker, the House appointed new principal officers to replace those that were removed. Tahir, who presided over the sitting, announced Alhaji Umaru Yunusa Mohammed, who is representing Lere East as majority leader to replace David Umar, who is representing Kachia constituency.
Yero’s recognition of the leadership change
While Gangara is still claiming to be the Speaker, Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero of Kaduna State has recognized Tahir as Speaker of the House. The governor had congratulated the new Speaker, Shehu Tahir and his Deputy, Peter Adamu as well as the newly constituted principal officers.
An elitist exercise in the game of power
Reacting to the development in Kaduna State, a statement signed by the President of Civil Rights Congress of Nigeria, Shehu Sani said that the removal of Kaduna State Speaker, Alhaji Gangara is nothing but an elitist exercise in the game of power. Sani said that there is nothing to mourn about the exit of the old speaker neither is there anything to celebrate about the entry of a new one.
According to him, removing or replacing a speaker makes no meaning as long as the elected legislators continue to suffer from a cancerous throat which impedes their ability and courage to speak truth to power.
“The impeached Speaker deserves no sympathy and the new one deserves no hope. I call on all legislators to save the House from its present image and stand by the spirit of their mandate and of their conscience in the best interest of the State and its people,” he said.
Sunday trust
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