Suspended Lawmakers Drag Zamfara Assembly Speaker, Six Others To Court

The eight lawmakers who were suspended from the Zamfara state House of Assembly have initiated legal proceedings at the Federal High Court.

Naija News understands that the lawmakers were contesting the violation of their constitutional rights to freedom, human dignity, fair trial, and seizure of their assets without proper legal procedures.

The lawsuit was directed towards seven individuals, which include the State’s Attorney General, the Commissioner for Justice, the Speaker of the Zamfara state House of Assembly, Bilyaminu Moriki; the House Clerk, the state Commissioner of Police, and the Director of the Department of State Service (DSS).

The presiding Judge at the court, Justice Aminu Bappa, is said to have approved the motion and postponed the hearing to April 29 to allow for proper service to those respondents who were not served due to complaints from the registry.

Following the court session, the legal representative for the eight suspended lawmakers, Ibrahim Ali, addressed the press and requested a hearing date in order to properly serve the remaining respondents.

“The case was for hearing at the Federal High Court Gusau, but due to complaints from the registry that some respondents, such as the state Commissioner of Police, the Director of the Department of State Service (DSS), and others, were not served,” Vanguard quoted Ali as saying.

As per his account, his clients have made allegations that the Speaker, in collaboration with the Nigerian Police, Department of State Service, and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), are making efforts to apprehend and prosecute them.

The grounds for this action are that 17 members of the State Assembly forcefully entered the State House of Assembly and conducted a plenary session on February 22.

It is worth noting that the state House of Assembly, under the leadership of the Speaker, had previously suspended eight members of the assembly during a plenary session.

This suspension was based on the accusation that these members had violated the law and the assembly’s constitution, Naija News reports.