Niger assembly suspends Shiroro vice chair, 9 councillors

The crisis between the Chairman of Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State and his councillors has been resolved as the State House of Assembly directed that the vice chairman and nine councillors be suspended.

The house also directed the immediate reinstatement of the council’s chairman, Suleiman Dauda Chukuba, who was suspended following alleged misappropriation of funds.

The

directive

followed the recommendation of the report of the House Committee on Local Government on the crisis rocking the area council.

The chairman was earlier suspended over a petition alleging misappropriation of N50 million tenement rate.

The report presented by the committee’s chairman, Hon. Shuaibu Liman Iya, stated that there was no minutes to show that the legislators sat to deliberate on the suspension of the chairman making their resolution null and void.

“The activity of legislation is a serious business and due process must be followed to the requirement of the law. For any decision to be taken, a proper legislative sitting must be convened and minutes must be taken.

“However, on this matter, there was no minutes of the council’s legislators sitting, this shows that there is no evidence that they sat. This renders their resolution and action on the suspension of the chairman illegal, null and void,” the Committee chairman stated.

The vice-chairman and the nine councillors were suspended over their failure to appear before the committee for questioning.

The legislators also directed that the N500,000 collected by the councillors should be refunded to the treasury of the council.

The assembly further frowned at how the legislators flaunted the law by not completing the requirement of meeting for 90 days in a legislative year.

The chairman was then directed to resume his official duties and all allowances lost during the period of the crisis be paid to him.