AS the political crisis in Adamawa State deepens, Governor Murtala Nyako and his deputy James Bala Ngillari allegedly fled the Government House Monday.
A source told The Guardian that the governor and his deputy had taken their personal belongings out of the Government House.
This came as the seven-man panel set up by the state Acting Chief Judge, Justice Ambrose Mammadi, to investigate the 20 charges of gross misconduct levelled against Nyako and Ngillari Monday submitted its report to the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Alhaji Ahmed Umaru Fintri.
Besides, Nyako’s counterpart in Nasarawa, Umar Tanko Al-Makura, was served an impeachment notice by the state House of Assembly over allegations of gross misconduct as President Goodluck Jonathan visited the state yesterday.
While submitting the report in Adamawa, the chairman of the panel, Alhaji Abubakar Kaigama, said that the committee gave the governor and his deputy the opportunity to appear and defend themselves, but they refused to honour the invitation.
“The panel invited the governor and the deputy governor twice, but they refused to come to the panel or send their representatives”, he said.
Kaigama said that the members of the panel had seen their assignment as a great opportunity to contribute their quota to the development of democracy in the country.
He said that the appointment of the panel was strictly in line with Section 188 sub-section [5] of the 1999 Constitution as amended. The report, according to Kaigama, is contained in four volumes.
While receiving the report, the Speaker of the house said that the members of the panel were selected by the acting chief judge of the state based on their personal integrity and their past records in their fields.
He said that the members of the assembly would meet during the house’s plenary session and take a decision on the report in the interest of democracy.
“The governor, his deputy and their aides have taken away their personal belongings from Government House and some of them returned the official vehicles in their custody”, the source said.
When The Guardian visited the Government House yesterday, there was no single official in any of the offices, only security operatives were seen.
It was learnt that the lawmakers may reconvene from their recess for an emergency sitting today to deliberate on the panel’s report and take the last action on the allegations of gross misconduct levelled against the governor and his deputy.
The President flew in from Abuja to Rukubi, a hinterland in Doma Local Council Area of the state to commission what is said to be the biggest rice farm in Africa.
The farm is owned by Olam, an Indian company which has operated in the country in the past 25 years. The President said with such a huge investment in the country, the farm would also serve as an export processing zone for the entire nation.
But while the commissioning lasted, the state legislature sat, deliberating on series of allegations of gross misconduct against the governor.
The Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Alhaji Musa Ahmed, after the sitting directed the clerk of the House to serve the governor the impeachment notice.
This followed a motion of public interest raised by the Deputy Majority Leader of the House, Mr. Yahaya Usman (PDP-Umaisha/Ugya) during the house plenary in Lafia, the state capital.
He presented a document containing allegations of gross misconduct against the governor, which he said was signed by 20 of the 24 members of the PDP-dominated Assembly.
“I am on my feet to raise a motion under the matter of public interest and I will go directly to read the document I have in my hand.
“This is a notice of impeachment of Governor Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa State for gross misconduct and for the violation of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended, today being the 14th July, 2014, the 20 members of the 24 members of this house unanimously endorsed to serve Governor Tanko Al-Makura notice of impeachment,” he said
The Chief Whip of the house Mr. Mohammed Okpede, (PDP-Doma North) seconded the motion.
The Speaker who officially received the impeachment notice said they acted in compliance with the provision of the constitution.
“In the event that his Excellency, Governor Tanko Al-Makura could not be reached for service, the clerk is directed to serve him with the impeachment notice through the media,” Ahmed said.
The house committee chairman on information and orientation, Baba Ibaku who spoke with The Guardian listed some of the impeachable offences of the governor to include:
• Embezzlement of local government’s joint account funds to the tune of over N2 billion, and
• Disappearance of over N700 million SURE-P money as well as N400 million flood money released in 2012 by the Federal Government to states affected by flood.
Source: Guardian
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