Kano Assembly Speaker, Majority Leader, Others Resign

The Kano State House of Assembly Speaker, Abdulaziz Garba Gafasa, and Majority Leader of the House Kabiru Hassan Dashi with some other principal officers of the legislative body have resigned from their positions.

AllNews learnt that the two principal officers and members of All Progressives Congress (APC) tendered their resignation letters in the early hours of Tuesday.

The Speaker announced his resignation in a letter he signed, titled ‘Notification of Resignation’ and dated 14th December 2020 addressed to the Clerk of the House and office of the Permanent Secretary.

Also, the Majority Leader, in a one-paragraph letter also addressed to the Clerk of the House did not state the reason why he took the action.

However, the Speaker said his resignation was based on personal conviction, while he thanked members of the Assembly for the support they showed him while he was in charge.

The letter reads in part: “I, Rt. Hon. Abdulaziz Garba Gafasa writes to notify you, honourable members of the general public that I have resigned from the position of the speaker of the house on the above date for my own personal reason.

“Lastly, I thank all the hon members for the support given to me during my days as the speaker of the house, and pray Allah Subhanahu wata’ala will guide new leadership.”

He, however, thanked his colleagues in the 40-member assembly for their support and prayed to God to guide the new leadership.

An official of the Assembly, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak to journalists, confirmed the resignation of Gafasa and the two other principal officers on Tuesday.

READ ALSO: Ondo Assembly Reinstates Four Suspended Lawmakers

The officers who also resigned, according to the source, are the majority leader, Kabiru Dashi, and his deputy, Tasiu Zabainawa.

A Kano lawmaker also confirmed the resignations saying the assembly will meet today to discuss the matter.

Although no genuine reason was given for the resignation, it is, however, believed to be related to the recent primaries of the ruling party in the state.

The recent primaries of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) for the forthcoming local government elections in Kano caused disaffection among party leaders after some members accused the state government and the party leadership of perpetrating injustice in the exercise.

The member representing Kano Municipal in the House of Representatives, Sha’aban Sharada, had alleged that the party’s leadership in Kano Municipal Local Government Area replaced delegates loyal to him prior to the primaries.