The Governor of Zamfara, Bello Matawalle, says he will not tolerate any disrespectful attitude from his deputy, Mahdi Aliyu.
Matawalle stated this while reacting to the controversy generated when Aliyu held a political rally to re-affirm his continued membership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Recall that the governor defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in June alongside most members of the state executive council and legislature.
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However, Aliyu chose to remain in the party on whose platform they were elected in 2019.
The State House of Assembly reportedly initiated impeachment moves against the Deputy Governor for holding the rally at a time that the state is witnessing killings by bandits.
The move has been described in some quarters as a plot by the lawmakers to punish Aliyu for not decamping with them to the APC.
Meanwhile, the assembly has summoned the deputy governor to explain why the political rally held “in disrespect of advice by the security authorities in the state”.
Speaking with DW Hausa Service on Saturday, the governor also chided his deputy, stating that nobody irrespective of how highly-placed would be allowed to worsen the security situation in the state.
“I just read about the impeachment plan and called someone for clarification who told me that they would not accept it from the deputy governor to be organising rallies when people are being killed.
“As governor of the state, I promised to work together with the deputy governor irrespective of our political affiliations. But I won’t tolerate a disrespectful attitude from him.
“I won’t join issue with him but if he dares me, I will give him the treatment he deserves.
“We all agreed to halt any political rally welcoming politicians into the state since we lost some of our supporters while welcoming us.
“The deputy governor should have notified me of whatever he planned to do. Being of different political parties does not mean I am no longer his boss. Since the defection, he has stopped associating with me.
“I am the chief security officer of the state. I won’t tolerate any person trying to breach the security of the state,” Matawalle said.
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