Kaduna Assembly Declares Ex-Speaker’s Seat Vacant

By John Shiklam

The Kaduna State House of Assembly has declared the seat of its former Speaker, Hon. Aminu Abdullahi Shagali, vacant.

Shagali was said to have been absent from the activities of the Assembly for more than a year without any reason.

The decision to declare Shagali’s seat vacant was taken by the Assembly during a plenary session presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Dr. Isaac Auta Zankai, yesterday.

The Assembly also extended the suspension of three of its members-Yusuf Liman (APC, representing Makera); Isah Hazo (APC, representing Basawa), Nuhu Goro Shadalafiya (APC, representing Kagarko), and Salisu Isa (APC, representing Magajin Gari) for another 12 months.

The three lawmakers were initially suspended on August 11, 2020, for a period of nine months following the fracas that erupted during the plenary on June 11, 2020.

A committee that investigated the incident, which was caused by alleged plot to impeach the Speaker, Yusuf Zailani, had recommended the suspension of the three members, and reprimand other members in accordance with the Assembly’s code of conduct.

The Clerk of the Assembly had been directed to communicate the decisions of the Assembly to the affected lawmakers as well as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to announce new date of re-run for the seat.

Efforts to get the reaction of one of the suspended lawmakers, Nuhu Shadalafiya, were unsuccessful as he was not responding to his telephone calls.