•Dictatorship creeping in, CNPP warns •Presidency desperate for 2015 –Balarabe •Babatope lauds Adamawa lawmakers •Abuse of Constitution might spell doom for democracy, says Nyako Embattled Adamawa State Governor, Murtala Nyako, has finally been impeached. The Governor, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was removed from office on Tuesday after the state House of Assembly had deliberated on the report of an investigative panel that probed allegations of financial misconducts against him and the Deputy Governor, Bala Ngilari. But Ngilari resigned his position shortly before the Assembly resolution to avoid being impeached. Ngilari’s resignation letter was read out at plenary by the Speaker, after which the lawmakers approved it. Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar reacted swiftly, condemning the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led Federal Government for allegedly instigating Nyako’s sack. He accused the PDP government of “turning the nation into their private enterprise, using the instrumentality of the law to hunt perceived enemies”. Seventeen of the 25 members of the PDP dominated Assembly adopted the report of the panel after the Speaker, Umaru Fintiri, read it out on the floor. The Assembly immediately passed a resolution that the Speaker, Fintiri, should be sworn in as the Acting Governor. The investigative panel report found the Governor guilty of all the 16 allegations of gross misconduct levelled against him by the Assembly. The report was endorsed by all the seven members of the panel. The motion for the Governor’s impeachment was moved by Jerry Kumdisi, member representing Gombi State Constituency. It was seconded by Kwamoti Laori, the Deputy Speaker and member, representing Numan State Constituency. All the 18 lawmakers present at the meeting signed the resolution removing the Governor. The impeachment panel Nyako and Ngilari was raised on July 4 by then Adamawa State Acting Chief Judge (CJ), Ambrose Mammadi, following a resolution to that effect by the House of Assembly. The committee submitted its report to the Assembly on Monday. There was high security presence on the road leading to the Assembly and inside the complex. A staff of the Assembly told an online medium that only workers and journalists were allowed access into the Assembly on Tuesday. In his reaction, Atiku in a statement by his media office on Tuesday berated the Federal Government over what he described as reckless use of power. According to him, “the excessive use of power by the PDP-led Federal Government is a tendency that was not good for decent democratic practice”. Atiku, a one time political foe of Nyako, noted that wielding the axe of impeachment against elected public office holders to settle scores would needlessly build up tension in the country. He said “the reckless use of impeachment to settle scores could not have been the intention of the framers of the 1999 Constitution”. Atiku believes that the frequency with which e officials were being shot down by impeachment would destroy the whole purpose of inserting the impeachment clause in the Constitution. He regretted that the use of impeachment to harass and humiliate perceived opponents by the PDP-led government would ultimately bastardise the spirit in which the Constitution provides for the impeachment clause. However, former Minister of Transport, Ebenezer Babatope, commended Adamawa State lawmakers for initiating impeachment proceedings against Nyako. Babatope, a chieftain of the PDP, in a statement, said he wholeheartedly support the decision of the Assembly and the Adamawa PDP for removing Nyako from office. “I wholeheartedly support the Assembly members for the correct and instant impeachment of former Governor, Murtala Nyako. Politicians must know that no one toys with the people and gets away with it. “It was sad and disheartening to see Nyako renounce the mandate given to him by the Adamawa people on the platform of PDP. “I hail the Adamawa State PDP Chairman, Joe Madaki, for leading this struggle successfully. All anti-people politicians will fail,” Babatope added. Lagos State chapter of the PDP described Nyako’s impeachment as a welcome development, adding that the APC should expect more impeachment of their Governors in the days ahead. Speaking shortly after Nyako’s impeachment, Lagos State Chairman of the PDP, Tunji Shelle, listed some of the sins of ousted Governor as arrogance, his defection to APC without recourse to the party that made him Governor and “running Adamawa like a personal empire without carrying other stakeholders in the state along”. In its own reaction, Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) charged President Goodluck Jonathan to adhere to the rule of law “and hard core democratic tenets”. It also raised the alarm over what it termed as signs of dictatorship creeping into Nigeria’s political landscape. The CNPP further accused the President of “playing the Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s script of hunting opposition Governors”. It noted that notice had similarly been served on the Nassarawa State Governor, Tanko Al-Makura. This was contained in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Osita Okechukwu. CNPP accused Jonathan of recruiting corrupt and discredited politicians into his fold all in the bid to crush the opposition.
Posted on: Wed, 16 Jul 2014 06:39:12 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015