June 21, (THEWILL) – A Federal High Court (FHC) in Abuja has set aside the impeachment of former Zamfara Deputy Governor, Mahdi Gusau, by the State’s House of Assembly.
The court had, on July 19, 2021, restrained the House of Assembly from proceeding with its planned impeachment of Gusau as deputy governor.
But in flagrant disregard, Gusau was impeached by the Zamfara State House of Assembly on February 23, 2022.
The impeachment followed the refusal of the deputy governor to defect along with Governor Bello Matawalle to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Matawalle, the three state senators, members of the House of Representatives and the House of Assembly had all defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC on June 29, 2021.
However, in a ruling challenging the impeachment on Wednesday, Justice Inyang Ekwo set aside all the steps and actions taken by the House of Assembly and the state’s chief judge in the administration of former Governor Bello Matawalle.
Justice Ekwo declared the action “null and void and of no effect.
“I agree with the learned silk for the plaintiff/applicant that the court must protect its dignity by reprimanding the 5th, 6th and 7th defendants (speaker, governor and chief judge) and undoing the steps, acts or proceedings taken in the impeachment while this suit was pending.
“Once parties have turned their dispute over to the court for determination, the right to resort to self-help ends.
“So, It is not permissible for one of the parties to take any step of complete helplessness, or which may give the impression that the court Is being used as a mere subterfuge to tie the result of litigation and the appropriate order of court before acting further,” the court held.
