The dangerous slide of Zamfara politics

It is increasingly becoming unenviable to be so elected as Chairman of Nigerian Governors Forum. Nigerians are asking if the office of the chairman of the governor’s forum is jinxed.

The tenures of two preceding chairmen were better not remembered. From the time Rotimi Amaechi superintended over the group, it had been quite turbulent for any occupier of that office. Former Plateau State Governor and now Senator Jonah Jang sat on the hot seat (albeit controvertibly) until he relinquished the position after his tenure.

Now Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State is fighting the battle of his life with lawmakers he is supposed to have a huge control over as most of his peers do across the country. Unless something drastic is done, Governor Yari may be on his way out of Government House, Gusau.

Zamfara State House of Assembly members have now listed six offences against Yari considered worthy to warrant his removal from office. In the political history of Nigeria, there had been several attempts by state lawmakers to seek removal of the state’s Chief Executives but the present case in Zamfara State seems to deny any conceivable rationality.

News filtered in early Wednesday that Governor Yari ordered the arrest the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Sanusi Rikiji, his deputy, Muhammad Gumi and other principal officers of the Assembly. They were reportedly held in the detention of the Department of State Services (DSS) in Abuja. Other members of the Assembly are reported to have taken to their heels for fear of being meted with the same fate as their leaders.

The state Commissioner for information, Umaru Bukkuyum, unsurprisingly, rose in defence of his master by denying Governor Yari’s involvement in the ordeal of the lawmakers. Mr. Bukkuyum said the lawmakers were “just invited to Abuja for a meeting on how to find solution to all the problems”.

The arrest of the Assembly leaders, if truly on the orders of the governor, is use of power gone too far. Such action is not only capable of truncating the democratic process Nigerians are gradually coming to terms with, but could be a bad precedent for other governors to follow.

Where has attempt to impeach a governor become a matter to warrant arrest of principal officers of the House? All Governor Yari should have done was to make himself available to the lawmakers and defend himself of the charges proffered against him.

Let it be clear that the immunity enjoyed by Nigerian governors does not preclude them from being removed from office if they are found wanting. The ‘Yari methodology’ as the current situation could be termed, is too dangerous for our democracy.

There has been nowhere in Nigeria where a governor expressly ordered the arrest of principal officers of his state House of Assembly as is being witnessed in Zamfara. Being chairman of Nigeria Governor’s Forum (which is not known to the nation’s constitution though) does not confer excessive power on the individual.

Nigerians are demanding unconditional release of the detained lawmakers if no criminal offence is proffered against them. For the lawmakers, it is also believed that they do not go on a wild goose chase and show of desperation to remove the governor. They should abide strictly to the letters of the constitution they have sworn to uphold.