The official mace of the Zamfara State House of Assembly was on Tuesday, July 15, 2014 broken following a free-for-all on the floor of the House between members of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and the opposition to propose a bill granting the state government the permission to secure N3 billion loan from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, as members of the opposition PDP strongly rejected the idea saying that the government must first of all, give the break down on how the money would be spent.
The position of the PDP members led to a heated debate on the floor of the house leading to a free-for-all. The mace which is the symbol of authority of the Assembly was broken to pieces during the melee.
Speaking to newsmen shortly after the crisis, the Minority Leader of the House, Ibrahim Dole, said the PDP members were informed on June 23, that there would be a sitting to pass a resolution on the government’s proposal to dispose its N24 billion shares from the Niger Delta Power Holding Company but added that the date was postponed without their knowledge.
About 19 million units of the shares belonged to the state government and the 14 local government areas of the state.
He said: “And even the day the session was eventually held, some members who were absent were marked present, while some us who were present were marked absent and above all they failed to produce the order of the proceeding that day.”
Efforts to speak with the Deputy Speaker, Mohammed Abubakar Gummi who chaired the sitting proved abortive.
