Following his impeachment by the state's House of Assembly on February 23, 2022, a Federal High Court on Wednesday has reinstated Mahdi Gusau as the deputy governor of Zamfara despite an ongoing court injunction.
Lagos Local News reports that Justice Inyang Ekwo's ruling kicked out the impeachment .
As long as the lawsuit was pending, the judge rejected all of the House of Assembly's, former Governor Bello Matawalle's, and state's chief judge's attempts to purportedly impeach Gusau.
He declared that the speaker of the previous legislature, the former governor, the chief judge, and other individuals' actions were an wrong and must not be accepted.
Justice Ekwo said: “I agree with the learned silk for the plaintiff/applicant that the court must protect its dignity by reprimanding the 5th, 6th and 7th defendants (speaker, governor and chief judge) and undoing the steps, acts or proceedings taken in the impeachment while this suit was pending.”
Contrary to the position of the attorneys for the fifth through eighth defendants, the judge declared that he did not see any of the legal sources listed and relied upon by the attorney authorizing any litigant to conduct extra-judicial action while a case was still being heard in court.
"Once parties have turned their dispute over to the court for determination, the right to resort to self-help ends.
“So, It is not permissible for one of the parties to take any step of complete helplessness, or which may give the impression that the court Is being used as a mere subterfuge, to tie the result of litigation and the appropriate order of court before acting further,” he said.
Remember that on June 29, 2021, Governor Matawalle, three state senators, members of the House of Representatives, and members of the House of Assembly all defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Following their defection, the PDP and Gusau, the then-deputy governor, who did not cross the carpet with them, requested the court to declare their seats empty since they had left the party through which they had attained power. The lawsuit was filed under the number FHC/ABJ/CS/650/2021.
For the purpose of holding and occupying the office of governor, state and federal lawmakers, they requested a necessary injunction requiring INEC to recognize the list of PDP candidates.
They also requested, among other things, an injunction requiring the defendants to swear in Gusau as governor under the PDP's platform.
On July 19, 2021, the FHC intervened to prevent the House of Assembly from carrying out its intended impeachment of Gusau as deputy governor.
After receiving the findings of the investigating panel formed by the chief judge, Kulu Aliyu, the House of Assembly impeached Gusau notwithstanding the court's directive.
