The political tension resulting from the Governor Abba Yusuf decamping to All Progressives Congress, APC, without his Deputy, the Kano State House of Assembly has commenced impeachment proceedings against the Deputy Governor, Aminu Abdussalam Gwarzo, over allegations of gross misconduct, abuse of office, and breach of public trust.
Reports say the notice of impeachment was presented on the Assembly floor by the Majority Leader, Lawan Hussaini Dala, who said the action complies with Section 188 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).
In what glaringly looks like witchunt, Dala explained that the allegations stem from Abdussalam’s tenure as Commissioner for Local Government between 2023 and 2024, as well as his current role as deputy governor.
The Majority Leader alleged that while overseeing the state’s 44 local government councils as commissioner, Abdussalam participated in the diversion of funds intended for council operations, stressing that between June 2023 and January 2024, he reportedly received a kickback of N1.5 million from each council monthly—totaling N462 million over seven months.
He also claimed that between February and July 2024, Abdussalam allegedly received additional payments from the councils for so-called “special assignments,” amounting to N3.255 million per council monthly, bringing the total to N726 million over six months.
However on his current position as as the Deputy Governor, Dala just accused the deputy governor of abusing his office by allegedly facilitating payments of N10 million each from the 44 councils to a pharmaceutical company, NovoMed Pharmaceuticals Limited, amounting to N440 million in violation of the state’s procurement and fiscal laws.
Dala, while revealing that the impeachment notice was endorsed by 38 lawmakers, meeting the constitutional requirement to initiate the process, urged the Speaker to transmit the notice to the deputy governor as required by law.
“Based on the foregoing allegations, we hereby resolve that His Excellency, Aminu Abdussalam, the Deputy Governor of Kano State, be impeached and removed from office in accordance with the provisions of Section 188 of the Constitution,” Dala stated.
Having received support from the members of the Assembly for the presentation, the Speaker acknowledged receipt of the document and is expected to communicate the allegations to the deputy governor in line with constitutional procedures.
