Adamawa Impeachment: How Betrayal Made Nyako A Political Orphan BY MOHAMMED ISMAIL — Jul 20, 2014 | Leave a comment Was the former governor of Adamawa state, Murtala Nyako a political orphan which eventually led to his impeachment? Was he abandoned by the same forces that hitherto sustained him in power? What was the role of his party in the twilight of his administration? MOHAMMED ISMAIL writes. The meeting convened by the National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Oyegun on Wednesday last week to discuss issues surrounding the impromptu removal of Governor Murtala Nyako came belatedly as the governor who was on the firing line of the ruling People’s Democratic Party, PDP has been left on his own as the impeachment saga lasted. The impeachment has raised many questions in the minds of Nigerians over the concerns of APC to its members who are in trouble as the party did not do anything substantial enough to save Governor Murtala Nyako’s job. Because of the lackluster attitude of the party to the concerns of its members, the PDP had a field day as the impeachment saga in Adamawa lasted as the shortest exercise in the history of Nigeria’s contemporary politics. The embattled governor had during the impeachment brouhaha cried out while speaking to journalists at the Presidential Villa that the process embarked upon by the state lawmakers was not constitutional adding that he would call for President Jonathan’s intervention when the need arises. The statement of the embattled governor was a pointer to the fact that all was not well as his story seemed to suggest that he was not getting the needed support and backing of his party, the APC which entailed his move to the presidency as a last resort to prevent the impeachment dagger around his neck. As if the failure of the national leadership of his party was not enough, the party at the state level also failed to rally round the governor as the impeachment plot against him thickens. Most of the party stalwarts who occupy positions and other juicy political offices through Nyako’s influence played double standards as they allegedly worked clandestinely to concede the party structures to former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar with whom Nyako has had long drawn political rivalry. Ironically, the APC government led by Nyako was in control of all the 21 local governments and 36 area administrations in the state with members of the National Assembly. But despite that, they did virtually nothing to rescue the governor from sinking. In the same vein, efforts made by two chieftains of the party from the state namely former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar and Nuhu Ribadu could not yield any positive result due to what many said was the lack of commitment on their parts as they were likely to benefit from his fall. Political pundits opined that the impeachment move against the governor has provided Atiku Abubakar an ample opportunity to avenge the lethal political blow Nyako dealt on him even as the former Vice President when he played the “spoiler role” in the defeat suffered by Atiku during the last PDP presidential primaries where Nyako drummed support for President Goodluck Jonathan against Atiku who hails from the same state with him. Analysts have described the relationship between the duo as a cosmetic one as a fallout of the recent APC congresses where Atiku played a second fiddle even as Nyako was again alleged to have denied him the chance of rooting his structure. In the same vein, the former boss of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, who is believed to be nursing political ambition was allegedly not comfortable with Nyako’s influence as the former governor was touted to be secretly supporting the ambition of his first child to succeed him. It was also believed that the governor did not get any assistance from his political appointees whom many said were only in the system for the benefit they could derive and as such, when the governor was muddled up in the impeachment saga, none of them supported him, no wonder, the governor had to face the impeachment travails alone. As if that was not enough, immediately after the impeachment sailed through, all the commissioners that served under Nyako started jostling for political offices in what many political pundits tagged mother of all betrayals. Few minute after Fintiri, the Speaker of the state assembly was sworn as the Acting Governor of the State, the 21 Council Chairmen put in place by ousted Governor Nyako and their counterparts in the 36 Development Areas paid Fintiri a solidarity visit where they declared loyalty to the new administration. But even the Acting Chief Judge of the state who was appointed by Nyako allegedly betrayed him as the Spokesman of the governor accused him of playing double standards on the issue of the impeachment against the governor. But the worst betrayal was said to have come from the five wise men popularly called, “five snakes” in Adamawa parlance who were said to have cornered most of the juicy contracts and patronages of the government over the years and were said to be stupendously rich even beyond the state government but betrayed him when he needed their support most. They were said to be behind the actions and inactions of the state government through which they ensured the looting of the state treasury beyond comprehension. Earlier, the spokesman of governor Murtala Nyako Mallam Ahmad Sajoh had written a solemn article which portrayed the activities of many government officials and APC members who ditched the governor at the 11th hour as treacherous. He said, “Events of the past few days have tasked all of us to limits. Our faith has been tested to breaking points. Only very few people had the courage to face the anxieties of the moment with dignity and honour. “Quite a number of people failed the test of faith during these turbulent days. We have had cases of people who lost faith and as a result vacillated from one level to the other. Others outrightly betrayed whatever trusts the system reposed in them. It was a period of great test. Betrayals were rampant and blame trading became a major pre-occupation. Everyone became a victim of his own failings. Few people had sufficient faith to stand and be counted. The term honour lost meaning. Most people became victims of their own lack of faith. How the whole saga will end is only known to God, but the victims of it will be many.” He added that, “Those who lost faith, honour, dignity and courage will be the greatest losers. Some people have already taken sides. Some have shifted loyalty. A number of those who traditionally sit on the fence in matters of this nature have lost even the moral courage to remain neutral. “They have shifted loyalties and created new allegiances. It needed a lot of courage to keep faith with what is right under the circumstances. Some lily-livered individuals have even found it necessary to come to me and “advise” me or is it warn me to tread carefully. Some reached out to people close to me. I felt sad. Why will anyone think I am of the same stuff as they are? Faith, dignity, honour and courage are the last virtues that will depart from me. “And that will be on my death bed and not when I am alive and with all my faculties intact. I have faith in the fact that whatever happens to me is predestined by God Almighty. I have faith in the fact that God Almighty will always vindicate the just. I have faith in the fact that dignity, honour and courage have only black or white hues. There are no shades of grey. If you dilute dignity with even a drop of debauchery, then it becomes indignity. If you mix honour with a pinch of dishonor, you loose the right to be honourable. Likewise any vacillation in courage is cowardice.” He continued, “A number of people claim that they were either offended by what was written or said. I felt pity for such people. They do not understand the essence of human existence. Benjamin Franklin, one of the former Presidents of the United States of America once said, ‘If all printers were not to print any thing till they were sure it would offend nobody, there would be very little to print’. I have made it a habit to just pen what I believe to be the truth under the circumstances regardless of whether some one feels hurt or not. After all, the Hausas will tell you that “Gaskiya rigar kaya” meaning, ‘the truth is a gown of thorns’. “During these few days, I have noticed that highly respected persons have preferred to rely on their emotions rather than reasons. So many people have been subdued by inducements, while others by fear. It was a period that tested our abilities to breaking point. How to handle such situations, how to wiggle out of such tight corners and how to keep afloat in the drowning sea of deception and subterfuge was a major concern for many. “Each of us was required to fall back to their faith, but it failed them. A lot more needed to remember their dignity and honour, but these virtues departed them. Some people needed courage to withstand the rampaging site of defeat, but courage departed the Lily-livered. However, the courageous will always snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. And victory may not always be in the manner expected. Victory may come in a manner least expected. It can even come in the form of a defeat, but deep down it is victory. Some times, even the victory we seem to claim may come in with the seeds of our defeat. The Trojans had it in the form of a Greek gift. The courageous are always victorious no matter the outcome of a struggle”. Stay up to date, follow us on Twitter; @LeadershipNGA
Posted on: Sun, 20 Jul 2014 07:32:25 +0000
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