Zamfara APC Threatens Legal Action Over Declaring Assembly Member's Seat Vacant

 

The Zamfara State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has called for the immediate rescinding of the purported declaration as vacant, the seat of the Minority Leader and member representing Talata Mafara South Constituency, Hon. Aliyu Ango Kagara, by the state House of Assembly under the leadership of Hon. Bilyaminu Ismail Moriki.

In a statement signed by the state publicity secretary of the party, Yusuf Idris, in Gusau on Wednesday, the APC described the action by the state assembly members as an embarrassment emanating from ignorance, abuse of office, and a move to weed out the APC from the state assembly.

The House, at its Tuesday sitting, declared the seat of Hon. Kagara vacant over what they termed truancy, but the APC claimed it was for political reasons to silence the opposition in the house. "This, we condemn in its totality," the statement said.

The APC also recalled that the House leadership had suspended nine other members from the House on January 8, 2024, illegally, without recourse to constitutional provisions or House standing rules, and withheld their salaries and allowances. The affected members were punished for voicing out their constituents' security challenges before the house.

The party accused the majority members from the PDP of fighting and terrorizing even their own members who refused to dance to their tunes, especially those who refused to be rubber stamps. The APC wondered why the PDP members expected the APC to be quiet when harassed.

The APC argued that the members who expected Hon. Kagara's seat to be declared vacant were either ignorant of or adamant to the fact that he was inaugurated as a member representing Talata Mafara South on June 8, 2023, as a member of the 7th Assembly of Zamfara State. The legislative year spans from June to June for four years, and 2023 has ended; the state is now in the second legislative year, from June 2024 to June 2025

The APC noted that the House only sat for two months in the second legislative year because it was on renovation recess for the first four months, and the remaining six months are yet to come. The party accused the House members of deliberately forgetting this fact due to their selfish interests.

The APC also argued that before declaring or removing any member, the House requires constitutional interpretation and must follow certain processes, not arbitrary announcements. The party accused the House members of ignorance and described their action as a blindfolded decision.

The APC called on the National Assembly to call the Zamfara State House of Assembly to order over the matter, noting that it may lead to taking them to court with claims of damages and an order for apologies.