The suspension of 10 members of the Zamfara State House of Assembly by the state legislature since February 26, 2024, and the extension of suspension of seven of them on May 13, 2026, which led to their recent resignation from the All Progressives Congress, has no doubt, denied a large population of the state a fair representation in the state legislature. Ejiofor Alike writes that the political leaders and elders in the state should reconcile the lawmakers in the spirit of democracy and for the interest of the people of the state

What started inside the chambers of the Zamfara State House of Assembly as a mere legislative disagreement that is common in every democracy, has since degenerated into a protracted crisis that has denied a large population of the state a fair representation in the state legislature.

The crisis worsened in February 2024 following what majority of the lawmakers described as a failed attempt by a faction of the lawmakers to impeach the speaker, Hon. Bilyaminu Ismail Moriki.

 Moriki was accused by the aggrieved faction of alleged misconduct and high-handedness. Consequently, the faction elected Hon. Bashar Aliyu Gummi as the new Speaker.

However, the impeachment failed and the majority lawmakers loyal to the speaker, Hon Moriki suspended the 10 lawmakers indefinitely on February 26, 2024.

 The suspended lawmakers were drawn from both the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Some of the affected lawmakers include: Hon. Aliyu Ango Kagara (Talata Mafara South), Hon. Ibrahim Tudu Tukur (Bakura), Hon. Nasiru Abdullahi (Maru North), Hon. Faruk Musa Dosara (Maradun 1), Hon. Bashar Aliyu Gummi (Gummi 1), Hon. Bashir Abubakar Masama (Bukkuyum North), Hon. Amiru Ahmed (Tsafe West), Hon. Basiru Bello (Bungudu West), and Hon. Mukhtaru Nasiru (Kaura Namoda North).

The lawmakers were accused by the majority faction of burglary, forcible entry, and destruction of public property, including allegedly breaking into the offices of the Clerk and the Sergeant-at-Arms, forcibly gaining access to the Legislative Chamber, damaging Assembly property, and thereafter convening an unauthorised sitting.

In March 2024, the suspended lawmakers raised the alarm that political thugs were after their lives and had attacked some of them, which forced them into hiding.

After a prolonged suspension, the embattled lawmakers reconvened in April 2025 and held a parallel plenary session in Gusau, declaring their suspension illegal, misleading, and baseless. 

The lawmakers, who reaffirmed Hon. Gummi, as Speaker, announced a one-month ultimatum to Governor Dauda Lawal to address the worsening insecurity across the state.

They also issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the state governor to re-present the 2025 Appropriation Bill, declaring the one presented to Hon. Moriki-led Assembly as null and void.

The crisis deepened early this month when seven of the lawmakers resigned from the APC, citing insecurity and lack of concern for the welfare of the people on the part of the APC-led state government.

Speaking on behalf of the lawmakers, Hon. Kagara alleged that the embattled lawmakers had gone 32 months without receiving salaries, allowances and other entitlements.

According to him, their disagreement with the governor had lasted for more than two years and was rooted largely in insecurity.

In its reaction, the state chapter of APC, through the party’s Publicity Secretary, Ibrahim Birnin-Magaji, said the APC had only seen the resignation letters on social media and was waiting for the lawmakers’ correspondence to be transmitted through their wards and local government structures. 

But the recognised Speaker, Hon. Moriki insisted that the lawmakers had been suspended from the House long before their purported defection.

The speaker stated that the lawmakers were suspended on February 26, 2024 following allegations of gross misconduct, conspiracy, mischief, contempt of the House, and convening an illegal sitting in violation of the Standing Orders of the Assembly.

 Moriki described their resignation from the APC as an attempt to divert public attention from the substantive disciplinary issues surrounding their suspension and to create an erroneous impression of instability within the Assembly.

The speaker further explained that on May 13, 2026, the House approved extending the suspension for another legislative session due to unresolved disciplinary issues and violations of House rules.

He noted that two other lawmakers who had earlier been suspended subsequently tendered apologies to the House and were reinstated, demonstrating that the disciplinary measures were neither politically-motivated nor targeted at any political affiliation.

Moriki also dismissed suggestions that the state House of Assembly lacked the capacity to conduct legislative business, stressing that the House currently has 16 active members, and has continued to conduct its proceedings in accordance with the Constitution and its Standing Orders.

He said there was “no basis whatsoever for portraying the Zamfara State House of Assembly as being in disarray.”

The resignation of the lawmakers from the APC came barely seven months after Governor Lawal moved from the PDP to the APC, turning the ruling party into the dominant political force in Zamfara State.

In March 2026, Lawal defected from the PDP to the APC, citing the prolonged legal and leadership crisis within the opposition party.

The move was followed by the defection of the Speaker, Moriki and 12 other members from the PDP to the APC. 

At the time, the development meant all 24 members of the state legislature were in the APC.

However, despite the assurances given by the speaker that the state assembly is stable and not in disarray, political analysts believe that the suspension of such a number of lawmakers, which denied them salaries and other allowances for over 32 months is not a sign of stability in the state legislature.

With the prolonged suspension, a large population of the state may have been denied fair representation in the state assembly.

The affected constituencies and democracy are the greatest losers in this prolonged supremacy battle and power play.

In the interest of democracy and the section of the state being represented by the embattled lawmakers, the leaders and elders of the state should intervene and reconcile the warring factions.

Governor Lawal; Minister of State for Defence and former governor of the state, Mr. Bello Matawalle; the Senator representing Zamfara East, Abdulaziz Yari, and other leaders and elders in the state should intervene through unofficial channels and resolve the crisis.

They should discharge this role as statesmen in the interest of the people of the state.

The principle of Separation of Power should not be an excuse to leave the state legislature to handle the crisis alone when it is evident that they cannot reconcile themselves.

The continued silence or connivance of some of the leaders in the state is politics taken too far.

Despite whatever may be the weaknesses of the state House of Assembly, eight or 10 lawmakers do not represent the majority in a 24-member state assembly.

Instead of encouraging the minority lawmakers to lay claim to the leadership of the state legislature, the two fractions should be reconciled and the majority allowed to emerge and control the House in line with the tenets of democracy.