A Federal High Court in Abuja has restrained the Speaker of the Zamfara State House Of Assembly and two others from proceeding with its planned impeachment of the state’s Deputy Governor, Mahdi Aliyu Gusau. Also restrained are‎ the Governor and the Chief Judge.

Justice Obiora Egwuatu gave the restraining order on Monday after listening to Ogwu James Onoja (SAN), who moved a motion ex-parte to that effect, on behalf of the plaintiff in a suit filed in the name of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP).

Onoja told the court that the House of Assembly and others were planning to impeach the Deputy Governor, who has refused to decamp to the All Progressives Congress (APC), adding that it was of utmost urgency that the court intervened by granting an interim injunction restraining the fifth to seventh defendants – the Speaker, Governor and Chief Judge– from proceeding with the impeachment.

In Monday’s ruling, Justice Egwuatu said he was convinced it was a matter of extreme urgency, requiring the court’s intervention to preserve the res (subject of dispute).

The judge then ordered parties to maintain the status quo ante bellum pending the hearing of a motion filed by the plaintiff.