From John Adams, Minna
The intervention by the Niger State house of Assembly on Tuesday saved the Chairman of Shiroro Local Government Area, Mallam Suleman Chukuba, from possible impeachment.
Eleven of 14 elected councillors in the area had on Monday collected signature with an intention to impeach the council chairman for his failure to organise a workshop for the councillors after seeking approval of N7 million from the legislature for the said workshop.
The council lawmakers also accused the chairman of misappropriation of the council’s funds and therefore resolved after a marathon meeting at the council Secretariat on Monday to suspend the embattled chairman from office.
The intervention by the House of Assembly which summoned the Chairman and the fourteen councillors to a meeting at the Assembly complex on Tuesday evening, however, brought the situation under control.
Speaking to reporters shortly after the peace meeting, the minority leader, Mallam Gambo Ahmed (PDP), representing Bangajia Ward, admitted that there were issues with the Chairman which borders on his inability to organise a workshop which money was approved for over four months.
According to him, ‘yes, we had issues with the Chairman, we approved money for him for a workshop for our members and since four months now we did not see anything so we wanted to know what happened to the approval.
‘But the matter has been resolved. The House of Assembly through the Chairman, House Committee on Local Government Affairs, has intervened and we are satisfied with the outcome of the meeting,’ he added.
In his reaction, the chairman admitted that the delay in organising the workshop for the legislators was due to drop in allocation to the local government from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) in the last few months.
He denied the allegation of any financial misappropriation levelled against him by the legislators, adding that he has managed the finances of the council despite the security challenges facing it, occasioned by the activities of armed bandits in the area.