A Federal High Court in Abuja has stopped the planned impeachment of the Deputy Governor of Zamfara State, Mahdi Aliyu Gusau.
In a ruling on Monday, Justice Obiora Egwuatu restrained the Speaker of Zamfara State House of Assembly and two others from proceedings with its planned impeachment of Gusau.
The judge gave the order after listening to Ogwu James Onoja (SAN), who moved a motion ex-parte to that effect, on behalf of the plaintiff in a suit filed in the name of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP).
Onoja told the court that the House of Assembly and others were planning to impeach the Deputy Governor, who has refused to decamp to the All Progressives Congress (APC), adding it was of utmost urgency that the court intervenes by granting an interim restraining injection against the fifth to seventh defendants – the Speaker, Governor and Chief Judge).
He argued that if the impeachment is carried out without being planned, no sufficient monetary compensation could assuage the impact, because it relates to a constitutionally recognised position with a stipulated tenure.
In a ruling, Justice Egwuatu said he was convinced it was a matter of extreme urgency, requiring the court’s intervention to preserve the subject of dispute.
The judge then ordered parties to maintain status quo ante bellum pending the hearing of a motion filed by the plaintiff.
