"Impeached Shira Deputy Chair Heads to Court to Challenge Removal"

"Impeached Shira Deputy Chair Heads to Court to Challenge Removal"

By Khalid Idris Doya

The impeached Deputy Chairman of Shira Local Government Council in Bauchi State, Hon. Adamu Usman Bamaraya, has approached the Bauchi State High Court challenging his removal from office by the Legislative Council of Shira Local Government.

Bamaraya's removal was purportedly based on a Facebook publication containing a document titled "Resolution to remove the Chairman of Shira Local Government Council (Hon. Abdullahi Ibrahim Beli) and Deputy Chairman (Hon. Adamu Usman) from office," signed by Councillor Hon. Abdullahi Wada.

The plaintiff claimed that he was never summoned to appear before any investigation panel, committee, or tribunal, nor was he given any opportunity to defend himself against any allegation as required by Section 20 (7) of the Local Government Law and Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution.

Bamaraya explained that he only learned about the removal of Shira Local Government Council ex-Chairman, Hon. Abdullahi Ibrahim Beli, when stakeholders asked him to resign from office. He thwarted efforts to force him to resign, and as a result, the stakeholders had him arrested and taken to a Correctional Centre, where he spent seven days without trial before being bailed out.

To his surprise, Bamaraya later learned that a by-election had been scheduled for May 24, 2025, to fill both the chairman and deputy chairman positions. In response, he filed a legal suit seeking an immediate halt to the planned by-elections by the Bauchi State Independent Electoral Commission (BASIEC), his reinstatement as Deputy Chairman of Shira LGA, and the punishment of the individual who arrested and imprisoned him for over one week for refusing to sign a resignation letter.

The defendants listed in the suit include the Shira Local Government Council, the Bauchi State House of Assembly, the Bauchi State Independent Electoral Commission (BASIEC), and all councillors representing Shira LGA.

The Bauchi State Independent Electoral Commission (BASIEC) had scheduled the by-elections for May 24, 2025, to fill the vacancies created by the removal of both the Chairman and Deputy Chairman. The Chairman of BASIEC, Ahmed Makama, stated that the commission received official communication declaring the vacancies, triggering its legal obligation to hold elections within 14 days.

"We received correspondence informing us that a vacancy exists in the offices of the Chairman and Deputy Chairman in Shira Local Government," Makama said. "As a commission, we are duty-bound to conduct an election to fill those vacancies."

Makama noted that the Bauchi State Electoral Law (2008) mandates that by-elections must be held within 14 days once a vacancy is officially declared.