AN Abuja Federal High Court has restrained the Zamfara State House Assembly from impeaching the state’s Deputy Governor Mahdi Gusau.
The presiding judge Obiora Egwuatu gave the order while delivering a ruling in an ex-parte motion with suit number: FHC/ABJ/CS/650/2021, brought by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) through its lawyer, Ogwu Onoja.
Egwuatu, who ordered the defendants to maintain the status quo pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice, also stopped the House of Assembly from impeaching other members still in the PDP.
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He directed the plaintiff to serve all the defendants in the suit before Friday and adjourned the matter until July 23 to hear the motion on notice.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), All Progressives Congress (APC), Nigerian Senate President Ahmad Lawan, Speaker of House of Representatives Femi Gbajabiamila, Speaker of Zamfara House of Assembly, Governor Matawalle and Chief Judge of Zamfara are 1st to 7th defendants respectively.
Though Goveenor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara recently defected from the PDP to the APC, his deputy, Gusau, did not.
The lawmakers in the state had threatened to impeach Gusau over activities they considered a threat to the security in the state in which they claimed he was involved.
The PDP, through its lawyer, had urged the court to grant its prayer in the interest of justice.
The party said the court had the inherent powers to grant the order.
“This is the only place we can run to, especially in a situation of chaos the state has found itself.