There
were indications last night that the impeached governor of Adamawa State,
Murtala Nyako, might be arrested by security agents and charged to court for
alleged treason.
While the treason charges against the former governor is billed
to take off in one court, the Economic & Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC,
would be prosecuting Nyako in another court for allegedly looting funds of the
state said to have been stashed in a local bank.
The governor and the North-East Region manager of the said bank
will be charged with another top official of Adamawa State Government, who is
being held by the anti-graft agency for aiding and abetting the looting.
Read a full script on the Adamawa Impeachment
Story courtesy of the Vanguard Newspapers:
The charges, according to the source, had been prepared by the
Federal Government even before the impeachment process against Nyako started
and would merely be completed with the governor’s removal from office.
Nyako to face treason charges
Findings by Vanguard revealed that Nyako is to be tried
specifically for levying war against Nigeria and inciting Nigerians and the
international community against the person of President Goodluck Jonathan by
accusing Jonathan of committing genocide against Northerners under the guise of
fighting terrorism.
One of the sources said: “The AGF is ready with the treason
charges against Nyako, who never showed any remorse over his letter to the
Northern Governors Forum and refused to retract the contents and apologise even
when he had the opportunity to do so.
“The AGF has since been directed to file treason charges against
the governor, who was fired by the Adamawa State House of Assembly on Tuesday
(yesterday) because what he did was levying war against the nation and inciting
the world against President Jonathan.
“If the former governor is lucky, he will survive the legal
onslaught against him but he may be in for many years in jail if convicted for
his indiscretion and deliberate action to malign the President of Nigeria,” the
source said.
Why Presidency dumped Ngilari
On why the Presidency withdrew its earlier support for the
Deputy Governor to succeed Nyako, the source explained that Ngilari lost out
because he tried to join forces with Nyako and work against the interest of the
PDP stakeholders in the state.
He explained that Ngilari lost the support of the Presidency and
the PDP stakeholders in the state when it was discovered that he had accepted
to take over from Nyako and make Nyako’s son his deputy.
“Ngilari lost out when the Presidency got information that he
had reached an agreement with Nyako to resign for him to take over as governor
and make his son deputy governor so as to continue to protect the former
governor’s interests. He thought he was smart,” the source said.
Vanguard further learnt that Ngilari, a Christian,
was prevented from succeeding Nyako, a Muslim, so as not to stoke
ethno-religious crisis in the state and worsen the security problem in the
North-East.
His removal from office notwithstanding, Nyako remained
boisterous, yesterday, insisting that he accepted the action against him in
good faith, as it was merely a judgment by man and not God.
The former governor said: “All praise be to Allah. We accept
what has happened. This is the judgment of man; we should all remember that
there is God’s judgment in the hereafter”.
Apparently hinging his hope on his move to challenge the
impeachment process against him, Nyako urged his supporters to remain calm and
law-abiding, as the matter was far from being over.
Ngilari hasn’t resigned — Nyako
In spite of that, Nyako disagreed with the claim by the House of
Assembly that Ngilari had resigned his position as deputy governor, arguing
that the law required the deputy governor to submit his resignation letter to
the governor and not the House of Assembly.
Nyako argued that he was still the governor of Adamawa State at
the time Ngilari was said to have submitted his resignation letter to the
Speaker of the state House of Assembly in contravention of Section 306 (5) of
the 1999 Constitution.
Nyako, who spoke through his Director of Press and Public
Affairs, Mr. Ahmed Sajoh, said: “Our attention has been drawn to the purported
resignation of the Deputy Governor of Adamawa State, Barr Bala James Ngilari,
which was supposedly read on the floor of the State House of Assembly.
“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 at the time the supposed resignation was said to have been
tendered in the House, Murtala H. 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.
“It should, therefore, be known that in the eyes of the Law, the
Deputy Governor has not resigned. Barr. Bala James Ngilari is still the Deputy
Governor of Adamawa State.
“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. We wish to
observe that continued abuse of the constitution and the laws of the land may
spell doom for our democracy,” Nyako’s spokesman said.
How Nyako was impeached
The removal of the governor by the State House of Assembly
followed the adoption of the report of the seven-man investigation panel set up
by the former Adamawa State Acting Chief Judge, Justice Ambrose Mammadi to
investigate alleged gross misconduct levelled against the removed governor and
his Deputy.
At yesterday’s plenary session, the Speaker of the Assembly, Mr
Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri read the report of the panel to the members, and quoted
section 18(a) of the Constitution which gives the House 14 days within which to
deliberate on the report.
Mr Jerry Kundusi representing Gombi Constituency then moved a
motion that since the House has the required 2/3 Majority, it should commence
debate on the panel’s report immediately.
Mr Kwamote La’on representing Numan Constituency supported the
motion and there was no dissenting voice, while the House immediately commenced
debate on the report.
At this point, the Speaker called each of the signatories to the
impeachment process to confirm their signature in order to ensure the 2/3
majority needed is attained.
17 of the 25-member House of Assembly affirmed that their
signatures were authentic and they stood by it.
At this juncture, the report of the panel was read by the
Speaker to the members specifying the 20 charges preferred against Nyako.
Four of the allegations were, however, dropped by the panel for
lack of merit.
After being found guilty of 16 out of the 20-count charges, the
Deputy Speaker moved a motion seconded by Jerry Kundisi that the House adopt
the report of the panel.
Consequently, the Speaker of the House, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri
stated that the House has satisfied section 18 (9) of the Constitution, and
that he, therefore, had no alternative than to declare the office of the
Governor of Adamawa State vacant.
The Deputy Speaker also moved a motion, seconded by Jerry
Kundisi that since the Deputy Governor has resigned, the Speaker should be
sworn in as Acting Governor.
The House in session unanimously directed the President of
Adamawa Customary Court, in the absence of the Chief Judge to swear in the
Speaker as Acting Governor for three months before an election is conducted to
fill in the vacant office of the Governor of Adamawa State.
Before the commencement of the house plenary session, the
speaker read a letter from deputy governor, Bala James Ngilari announcing his
voluntary resignation.
In their reactions, Adamawa PDP stakeholders, described the
impeachment as the best thing to happen in Adamawa State.
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