Controversy over Kaduna Assembly speakership

The Kaduna State House of Assembly has been engulfed in controversy over its speakership following the nullification of the election of the erstwhile speaker, Dahiru Yusuf Liman, by the Court of Appeal in November 2023. 

The ruling had ordered a rerun in five polling units in Makera Constituency, raising concerns among the opposition and civil society organizations over the prolonged vacancy in the speakership.

Liman, elected on the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) platform, faced challenges from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ‘s Solomon Katuka, who alleged illegalities in the electoral process.

Despite the court’s decision, which naturally meant that Liman’s election was inconclusive and could therefore not be counted as a member of the state assembly, findings by Daily Trust revealed that he had covertly continued to hold on to the speakership position.

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Efforts to get a reaction from him were unsuccessful as he was said to be out of the country.

But while the Independent National Electoral Commission has scheduled by-elections for February 3, calls from the opposition for a fresh election to fill the speakership position have gone unanswered, allowing Liman to maintain his status even after the court’s judgment.

While the House members are presently on recess, the budget presentation by Governor Senator Uba Sani on December 18, was received by the Deputy Speaker, Magaji D. Henry, who was acting as speaker. 

Critics, including Jalal Jalal of the PDP, argued that the assembly’s continued operation without a legitimate speaker violates the constitution. 

Jalal emphasised that the absence of a speaker should have prompted the assembly to cut short its recess and conduct a new election to fill the leadership void. He contended that presenting the 2024 budget without a legitimate speaker rendered it illegitimate. 

“There is no way a state assembly will continue to run without a leadership. There are people saying the deputy speaker should continue with the running of the house activities but every reasonable person and those that know the provisions of the constitution will not say that.

“This is because a deputy speaker can only act when there is a substantive speaker of the house but in this case the speaker has been dismissed by an appeal court and therefore what the house should have done is to cut the recess and come back to elect the speaker after which they can go back and continue with their recess,” he said.

He further argued that election of a speaker and deputy was not a joint ticket affair because each and every one of them was elected independently. 

An APC chieftain in the state, Murtala Muhammad, re-echoed Jalal’s sentiments, emphasizing the importance of following constitutional procedures to avoid tarnishing the party’s image.

He said there was the need for the ruling party to follow due consideration by ensuring that the house has a substantive speaker for the peace of the house. 

“Doing the right thing will always save the party, government and party members from any problem. We should always think of following due process in whatever we do. So, I think it’s never too late for the mistake to be corrected,” he said.

On his part, Murtala Abubakar, Chairman of Arewa Defence League, a non-governmental organization, emphasized the need for financial autonomy for the House of Assembly, insisting that this is one of the challenges faced when lawmakers lack independence. 

He said as a group they expected the lawmakers to go ahead to elect somebody with clear mandate who can discharge his responsibility without fear or favour and not to stylishly wait for the former speaker to go for the by-election and see if he wins or loses.

No leadership vacuum – Lawyer

But a legal practitioner, El-Zubair Abubakar, said the court’s decision does not automatically vacate Liman’s position until the ordered election occurs. 

He argued that nominating the deputy speaker was a natural step to prevent a leadership vacuum, asserting the validity of the budget presentation under the deputy speaker’s interim role.

“The position of the court in an election dispute is that even if a person is sacked by the court, unless the activities which the court warrant or orders have taken place, the person sacked will not vacate the position until that activity has taken place. 

“So, nominating the deputy speaker (to act) is natural because constitutionally, whenever the speaker of the house is absent, it’s the deputy speaker that will act for him,” he said.

He said Liman still remains as the speaker because he has not vacated his seat as Member of Makera Constituency and the members of the house have not impeached him from his position as speaker of the house.

“Until he is sacked by the re-run election, that he will no longer act as a member nor a speaker and the house will be at a privilege to elect a new speaker,” he said.