The Zamfara chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has berated Governor Dauda Lawal for the alleged illegal presentation of the state’s 2025 budget proposal to the State House of Assembly.

The party, therefore, called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) to investigate the alleged illegality by Mr Lawal.

In a statement in Gusau on Thursday by the state APC publicity secretary, Yusuf Idris, the party asked the governor and assembly to reverse the budget presentation and “apologise to the people of the state or face legal action.”

“The Zamfara APC chapter is calling on the state government and the state House of Assembly to immediately reverse the budget presentation.

“We are appealing to the nation’s anti-corruption agencies, especially the EFCC and ICPC, to investigate the total abuse of financial regulations by the governor’s cabal to perpetuate illegality in our dear state,” Mr Idris said.

Mr Idris described the governor’s action as “illegality” and a disregard for the nation’s constitution, as he and the state legislature displayed in the presentation and receipt of the 2025 budget proposal.

“The most embarrassing thing the state government has done not only against itself but to the entire people of the state.

“A state annual budget proposal presentation event is usually done openly for the entire world to see and know. This is also to possibly enable the public to comment or contribute to the way and manner public taxpayers’ money will be utilised by the government in the incoming year,” he said.

Mr Idris also lamented that the state government, in collaboration with some security personnel, shielded everyone, especially the media, from covering the presentation”, saying it was, by implication, denying the public knowledge or access to the budget.

He said the assembly had suspended nine of the 24-member assembly before the presentation, saying, ”They were suspected to possibly challenge the document during and after the presentation so that the process would go unchallenged.

“This development was coupled with the refusal of the member representing Kaura Namoda to participate in the presentation as he left the assembly.

“This is very unfortunate for the governor to present the budget proposal with less than two-thirds members who cannot constitutionally pass any bill.

“Even the 14 members that remained in the assembly were said to have dropped to eight, according to one media source.”

According to him, throughout the country, at this moment, no state assembly has suspended about half of its members.

Mr Idris further lamented the suspension of the seven assembly members since February 2024.

“However, the minority leader of the House, Aliyu Ango (APC-Talata Mafara South), was indirectly suspended, and all his entitlements were also seized.

“We call the attention of Governor Dauda Lawal to know that governance must be done according to constitutional provisions, not personal interests and abuse of the constitutional rights of others.

”All these will boomerang on him even before the end of his tenure,” he further said.

(NAN)