Governor Nyako accepts his fate as Adamawa State House of Assembly impeaches him Wednesday, 16 July 2014 07:54 ADAMAWA State governor Murtala Nyako has conceded defeat after the State House of Assembly voted to impeach him and his deputy yesterday and swore in the speaker as the acting governor. After weeks of political jostling, the Adamawa State House of Assembly finally voted to impeach the governor yesterday, with 18 out of the 25 members of the legislature electing to remove him. This was after an investigative panel, headed by a retired judicial officer, Buba Kajama, found Governor Nyako, 71, guilty of 16 out of the 20 allegations levelled against him. After members of the Adamawa State House of Assembly adopted the report of the seven-member panel that investigated allegations of gross misconduct against Governor Nyako and his deputy, Bala Ngilari, they endorsed impeachment. Just a few hours before the vote, deputy governor Ngilari handed in his resignation. With the matter concluded yesterday afternoon, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, the speaker of the Adamawa State House of Assembly, was sworn in as acting governor. A retired navy general, Governor Nyako, accepted his fate graciously after the vote, asking his traducers to be mindful of God’s judgment. Governor Nyako said: “Praise be to Allah, we accept what has happened. This is the judgment of man but we should all remember that there is God’s judgment in the hereafter.” In addition, Governor Nyako said that the resignation of his deputy was a nullity by virtue of the fact that it was procedurally wrong. Apparently, Nigerias constitution stipulates that his resignation letter should have been submitted to the governor and not the House of Assembly. A spokesman for the ex-governor said: “We wish to state categorically that Section 306 (5) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as Amended, requires that the deputy governor resigns not to the House of Assembly but to the governor. As of the time the supposed resignation was said to have been tendered in the House, Murtala Nyako was the Governor of Adamawa State. “No such letter was written to him, none was received by him and none was approved by him. This clarification is necessary to avert another subversion of the constitution since the other processes relating to the impeachment saga have all been in contravention of the constitution and the law.” Governor Nyako, has been a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) since he defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in late 2013 alongside other ex-PDP governors Rotimi Amaechi, Musa Kwankwaso, Abdulfatai Ahmed, and Magatakarda Wamakko. Former vice president Atiku Abubakar, said that wielding the axe of impeachment against elected public office holders in order to settle scores by the federal government would needlessly build up tension in the country. He added: “The reckless use of impeachment to settle scores could not have been the intention of the framers of the 1999 constitution. The frequency with which elective officials were being shot down by impeachment would destroy the whole purpose of inserting the impeachment clause in the constitution. “The use of impeachment to harass and humiliate perceived opponents by the PDP-led federal government would ultimately bastardise the spirit in which the constitution provides for the impeachment clause. The constitution was not meant to provide ammo for anybody to harass and humiliate opponents or force them out of office.” Former Kwara State, governor Senator Bukola Saraki who is also a leader of the APC, since he defected from the PDP, described the impeachment of Governor Nyako as unfortunate. Senator Saraki also raised the alarm that four other governors were already on the firing line.
Posted on: Wed, 16 Jul 2014 11:56:33 +0000
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