Impeached Zamfara Deputy Governor Didn’t Breach The Constitution By Not Ditching PDP For APC

According to a report to report, The Deputy Governor of Zamfara State, Mahdi Gusau, has been removed from office by lawmakers in the State House of Assembly, on Wednesday. This followed the report of the committee set up by the Chief Judge of the State, Justice Kulu Aliyu, to probe the deputy governor.

The truth is that the so-called impeachment of the Zamfara State Deputy Governor Mahdi Aliyu Gusau is yet another stark example of the fact that our democracy has been turned into a joke. We can’t build strong democratic institutions when we have wilfully subservient legislators who abandoned their independence. Legislators who support irregularities or allowed themselves to be used as tools of personal vengeance by opportunistic Governors for a mess of pottage, don’t deserve to be addressed by the title.

Lawmakers who abandoned the duty and responsibility of protecting the sanctity of our constitution are guilty of betraying public trust and making a mockery of their oaths of office. If you took an oath to do your duty without fear or favor, then you shouldn’t allow yourself to be a tool for personal vengeance in the hands of your Governor. Mahdi Aliyu Gusau didn’t breach the constitution or commit any misconduct by not opportunistically ditching his original political party and following Governor Matawalle into APC.

One of the most ridiculous of the charges against him was that he attended a political rally that shows insensitivity to the security challenges in Zamfara State. But Governor Matawalle left Gusau to attend meetings with APC leaders in Abuja and Kaduna to discuss his defection to the ruling party. What makes his meeting with APC leaders in Kaduna and Abuja less insensitive than Mahdi’s attending a PDP event? If attending political events constitutes misconduct, then both Governor Matawalle and Mahdi should have been impeached for the same offense of showing insensitivity to the security situation in Zamfara State