Who is behind Sokoto Assembly crisis?
The bitter melee that engulfed the Sokoto State Assembly on Tuesday, August 15, only brought to the fore the level of bitterness among the warring legislators in the 30-member state assembly comprising solely APC members.
The state assembly is already sharply divided, with one side strongly in support of the speaker and by extension Governor Aminu Tambuwal.
This has heightened fears that with that disposition, the lawmakers have already planted seed of discord that would make it almost impossible to make positive legislations for the welfare of the people.
The impasse has already seen the impeachment of the Deputy House Leader, Alhaji Kabiru Ibrahim (APC- Kware), after a vote of no confidence signed by 21 members, as well as an outpouring of allegations of financial impropriety against the Speaker, Salihu Maidaji, by the opposing side.
While justifying Ibrahim’s removal, the Assembly Leader, Alhaji Garba Bello (APCYabo), alleged that he breached the standing orders of the assembly by “overtly canvassing for support for a 2019 governorship candidate in the state.”
According to him, “One of us, a leader in the Assembly, Kabiru Ibrahim arranged a delegation with other members to mobilize in support of a gubernatorial candidate in the state, as such, breaching our standing orders at the assembly,” Bello stated.
But the opposing legislators said the deputy house leader was only removed to ensure a cover up. According to them, the embattled lawmaker was rather committed to ensuring sanity in the house.
One of them, Alhaji Sani Yakubu (APCGudu), did not hesitate in making weighty allegations against the speaker, which the other group, however, described as unfounded.
Yakubu accused the speaker of “reckless spending and being a stooge of the executive.”
“The speaker has been spending money recklessly without the