Adamawa assembly in crisis over sack of 4 lawmakers

A leadership crisis is rocking Adamawa State House of Assembly over impeachment of deputy speaker, majority leader and two other principal officers.

The crisis started Saturday after a plenary presided over by ddeputy speaker Emmanuel Tsamdu adopted the passage of the 2019 Appropriation Bill.

The member representing Mubi North Constituency, Sani Shehu presented signatures of 17 legislators for removal of the deputy speaker, Tsamdu,.

Other members removed were the Majority Leader, Hassan Barguma, Deputy Majority Leader, Abubakar Isa and Deputy Chief Whip, Abdullahi Nyapeki citing loss of confidence in them.

The legislators therefore elected Lumsabani Dilli as new Deputy Speaker, Hayatu Muhammad as new Majority Leader while Sank Shehu and Safiyanu Aliyu emerged as new Deputy Majority Leader and Deputy Chief Whip respectively despite objections from the removed officers.

Tsamdu argued that some of the 17 signatories to the impeachment were absent at the sitting and must come in person to confirm their signatures.

Also, Barguma who insisted that he remained the Majority Leader told Daily Trust that there was a failed attempt by 14 out of 25 members of the assembly to remove Tsamdu and some other officers.

He said only two-third of the legislators could remove a deputy speaker, adding that the process required that signatures must be verified before they became valid.

“There was an attempt to remove the deputy speaker and some of us but it failed because 14 signatures were not enough to remove a deputy speaker who was elected by 2/3 majority.  You need 17 out of 25 members and each person must stand up to confirm that it is actually his signature before it becomes valid. Impeachment is not a new thing in Nigeria. The process is clear,” he said.