KASTINA ASSEMBLY: CPC carpets Assembly over minority leader’s suspension

LEGISREPORTS NG – The suspension of the Minority Leader of the Katsina State House of Assembly, Alhaji Abdullahi Ibrahim Mahuta, for accusing the executive arm of government for poor performance in budget implementation has sparked off heated reactions resulting in a war of words between the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, and the House Leadership in Katsina State.
Mahuta, who represents Malumfashi state constituency was quoted as saying that the average performance of the Katsina State Government on budget implementation stands at about 36 percent for 2011 and 37 percent for 2012.
He also slammed the Assembly for failing to live up to its constitutional duty of oversight, one that he stated would have otherwise improved on the performance level of the 2012 budget.
This irked the lawmakers who immediately reconvened midway from a recess period embarked upon for a special sitting to deliberate on the matter.
The House sat on June 3, 20113 and suspended Mahuta from his position as minority leader pending the outcome of investigations by the House committee on ethics and privileges.
The decision to suspend the minority leader of the House however did not go down well with CPC in the state, as the Party’s interim chairman, Alhaji Farouq Adamu Aliyu, faulted the decision, saying proper procedures were not followed by the lawmakers.
Aliyu described the suspension as illegal and unconstitutional, saying “there is no way you can move a motion, refer the matter to the ethics and privileges committee and at the same time arrive at a conclusion to suspend an accused member without giving him a chance to defend himself before the committee.”
He said the suspension of the lawmaker has indicated that the House lacks capacity to perform its duty professionally.
On his path, Speaker of the House, Alhaji Ya’u Umar Gwajo-Gwajo, on the contrary defended the procedure adopted by the House to suspend the lawmaker saying, “every House has its own rules and traditions.”
According to him, “there is no way you can investigate him while holding his position because there is every tendency of tampering with the investigation through the influence of his position. So the lawmakers unanimously agreed that he should be suspended and we suspended him pending the completion of the investigation.”
The Speaker further said that if Mahuta is found to be innocent, his suspension will be lifted, but if found otherwise, the House will look at the recommendations of the committee and decide on the type of punishment that should be applied on the lawmaker.