There was a fracas in the Kaduna State House of Assembly on Thursday as lawmakers exchanged blows over the impeachment of the Deputy Speaker, Mr Mukht
There was a fracas in the Kaduna State House of Assembly on Thursday as lawmakers exchanged blows over the impeachment of the Deputy Speaker, Mr Mukhtar Hazo.
Following Hazo’s impeachment during plenary, the lawmakers elected the member representing Kauru Constituency, Mr Isaac Auta, as the new deputy speaker. His impeachment notice was signed by 24 members of the assembly.
Before he was removed from office, there were speculations of an alleged plot by seven members of the House led by the former deputy speaker to impeach the Speaker, Yusuf Zailani. However, lawmakers in support of the former deputy speaker exchanged blows with other members in the process of trying to remove the mace of House after the impeachment.
Immediately after swearing in the new Deputy Speaker, Liman Dahiru, a member representing Makera Constituency, broke into the floor of the Assembly and seized the mace. As Dahiru attempted to make his way out of the chamber, the Sergeant at Arm grabbed him while other members made frantic moves to retrieve the mace from him.
Dahiru was overpowered and had his clothes torn as other lawmakers dragged and hit him in an attempt to recover the mace from him. The scenario, thereby, forced the plenary to end in a rowdy way after the aggrieved member was dragged out of the floor of the assembly. The aggrieved member was later spotted outside the assembly chamber, fuming.
In his reaction, the Speaker said that the impeached deputy was the architect of his own misfortune. Zailani accused Hazo of conniving with other lawmakers to remove him as the speaker, claiming that the former deputy speaker also committed other infractions that were against the rule of the House.
Earlier, some policemen and other security operatives stormed the Assembly Complex over the plot to impeach the speaker who was elected into office on February 25. Some lawmakers who were not happy with his style of leadership were said to have perfected plans to impeach him during plenary.
According to ChannelsTV, in order to forestall any breakdown of law and order, all entrances leading in and out of the complex were barricaded by the security operatives.
