The recent impeachment of the speaker of Jigawa state house of assembly exposes the crack in the ruling APC in the state, MUHAMMAD ZANGINA KURA, reports.If anything, the recent impeachment of the speaker of the Jigawa state house of assembly has lent credence to the widespread but often denied allegations of serious crack in the state chapter of the All Progressive Congress (APC).In a well-orchestrated plan, a plan that has since been described by many as political master piece, members of the state assembly impeached their leader stripping him of all the privileges attached to the coveted seat of a speaker.It would be recalled that the Jigawa House of Assembly impeached its Speaker, Idris Garba and elected Isa Idris of Gwaram Constituency as the new Speaker. The Deputy Speaker, Ahmed Garba, presided over the sitting attended by 23 members.Before the assembly commences full sittings, the Clerk of the house, Hussaini Ali, said that he received an impeachment notice signed by 25 of the 30 assembly members, and which he read on the floor of the house.Mr. Ali disclosed that members of the assembly impeached the speaker due to alleged high handedness and abuse of power.Before the impeachment of the speaker, Idris Garba there has been widespread concerns and rumours of alleged disaffection among members especially, some heavy weights of the ruling APC.As a matter of fact, a lot of people especially some members of the APC have expressed fears that unless concerted efforts are made towards ensuring genuine reconciliation, the disaffection within the party could cause colossal damage.But then of course, some officials of the party have repeatedly denied the existence of any crack insisting that the allegations were mere wishful thinking of some persons who are bent on seeing the party disintegrates.Even though some of the state party leaders and particularly the state government have persistently denied the existence misunderstanding or crack among the party, it is crystal clear for anyone who have been following the political trend in the state particularly from early 2016, to notice the great tension in the state ruling party.In the face of constant denial by both the party apparatus and government officials, some pundits insisted that the party was merely buying time and was only waiting to explode.Perhaps the recent impeachment of the assembly speaker has if anything, lent credence to the fact that all is not well within the ruling party in the state.The announcement of the impeachment of the state speaker, Hon Idris Garba who was from the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), one of the legacy parties that merged to form the ruling APC has continued to generate reaction within the political circle in the state.Indeed, findings revealed that many people especially politicians within the ruling APC, were jolted by the decision hence it has continued generate a lot of comment.Politics watchers said the impeachment of the speaker was part of the moves by some vested interests in the state to assume total control of the party machinery in the state.Even though the speaker, was not the first person to lose his seat in Jigawa state ruling APC, his impeachment has drawn wide criticism and has generated more concern and attention than one could ever imagined.Indeed, analysts described the move as an attempt to shut the defunct Congress for Progressive Change which the speaker technically represents, and bar it from having any say in the politics of the state so as to make for more ways to the governor and his allies from the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria.Additionally, there are speculations that the impeachment of the speaker is part of the grand ploy to render his political godfather and key architect of the defunct CPC, Faruk Adamu Aliyu, irrelevant in the scheme of things.But more than anything, the impeachment of the speaker has forced residents especially the politically savvy ones, to allege that the governor is either out to muzzle some perceived dissenting voice or seriously bent on ensuring he assume total control of the party machinery.Before the impeachment of the speaker, the first person to lose his seat in the Jigawa APC government was the former state commissioner of environment, Adamu Sarki Miga, who was among the aggrieved PDP members that joined APC under the leadership of former two term state deputy governor Alhaji Ahmad Mahmud Gumel.Our correspondent reports that the removal Miga was seen by many of his political allies as an affront on their political strength since he was the only cabinet member in governor Badaru government from the aggrieved PDP.Pundits said the actions by the state assembly may have an imprint of the governor who is alleged to have high degree of control over the state lawmakers. Already, politics watchers have started linking the impeachment of the speaker, the sack of the commissioner and the sack, last December, of the three local government care taker chairmen.They insisted that the actions were done by the governor or with his support in a desperate move to consolidate his political grip in the state and further widen his chances of getting a second term.All these are part of the ploy for 2019, an analyst who prefers anonymity said stressing that the days ahead may see more changes in the power structures in the state.While the allegations continues, one thing which has continued to further expose the lie being peddled by the ruling APC that it was a united house is the fact that the members of the national assembly from the state rarely attends any function organized by the state government as is often the case in other states.Analysts insists that the fact that most of the national assembly rarely grace functions organized by the state government regardless of its magnitude is nothing but a manifestation of political rivalry within the APC.Unconfirmed sources said one of the national assembly member is already gathering support in a bid to challenge the governor to a fight for the partys ticket come 2019.LEADERSHIP Sunday recalls that Governor Badaru is of the ACN, his deputy, Ibrahim Hassan belong to ANPP while the impeached speaker was of the CPC. This combination made up the three legacy parties that merged to form the APC.The impeachment of Hon Idris Garba from his position of speaker came less than a week after the state governor Badaru proceeded on an annual leave.Even as politicians continued to attribute political expediency as reasons for the impeachment of the speaker, some sources said the speaker had ignited the fire that consumed him when he allegedly failed to give account of a missing N6 Million from the N12 million released to the members by the Governor as New Year gift.The aggrieved Assembly members whom were not happy with the situation demanded for an explanation from the speaker whom was alleged to have ignored their request.However the question lingering the mind of public is that, did the impeachment of the speaker has the blessing of state governor Alhaji Badaru Abubakar' If yes, what is the main motive behind' Also the question others are asking is that, what is the position of the political god father of the impeached speaker, Faruk Adamu Aliyu, and, the implication of the impeachment on the CPC block'Although answers to this and many other posers are still being sought, some are of the opinion that the state and indeed, the ruling APC should brace up for more political turmoil which they insisted, are inevitable as conflict of interest continues to grow day by day ahead of the 2019 general election.
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