How Al-Makura Survived Impeachment Donatus Nadi — Aug 10, 2014 | 1 Comment Nasarawa State Governor Tanko Al- Makura last week survived an impeachment move initiated by the State House of Assembly over alleged of constitutional breach and financial recklessness.In this report, DONATUS NADI x-rays the machinations that characterised the saga and factors that led to his survival In the aftermath of the 2011 general election which produced two parties heading the executive and legislative arms of government in Nasarawa State, many saw it as an avenue for a more vibrant democratic process. Soon, however, the electorates began to realise that some fundamental issues were taken for granted, cardinal among which is the fact that the two arms of government did not have the same mission and vision for a greater Nasarawa State. No sooner had they settled at their duty posts and commenced the acts of law making, which is supposed to add value to the lives of the citizens of the state, that the electorates realized that the assembly had sustenance of grip on political power as their sole objective. Their actions for the past three years are indicative of this suspicion until its culmination in the impeachment move initiated against Governor Al-Makura which hits a brick wall last Tuesday for lacking in merit. Cases of their machinations to thwart Al- Makura’s dogged efforts at providing good governance abound. On Assumption of office Al-Makura was the first governor in the north to implement the N18,000 minimum wage. In his efforts to check waste and corruption in the civil service, he ordered the biometric registration of public servants in the state. In the exercise, over 22,000 ghost workers gulping over N500 million were discovered. Barring any sense of responsibility, the lawmakers declared the biometric exercise illegal and as if that was not enough, the payment of minimum wage was also declared illegal. The House also enacted a law mandating the state chief executive to obtain permission from them before embarking on any foreign trip. It is also instructive to note that the assembly passed a resolution directing the state government to repaint the 340 blocks of classroom and 36 model schools storey buildings constructed by Al- Makura. Other cases include rejection of a Transition Management Committee nominee for being a frequent user of facebook and limiting the tenure of local government chairmen to one year. That being said, the Speaker of the House, Hon. Musa Ahmed Mohammed, also declared on many occasions that Al-Makura has ensured fiscal autonomy for the Assembly leaving many wondering why he has always come under impeachment threat at any given provocation. It would be recalled that the lawmakers had issued an impeachment threat to him on grounds of his hearing impairment to which citizens of the state rose in fury to his defence. After seven other impeachment attempts, the lawmakers made true their threat by finally serving Al-Makura with impeachment notice through the Media on the July 17, 2014. The 16 count charge bother on allegations of abuse of office and financial misappropriation. The battle to oust him on these grounds is seen more as a plot hatched by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to force their way back to power through the back door. This, in the views of the public is what informed the defection of the deputy governor, Hon. Dameshi Barau However, July 14 2014 when Al- Makura was in Rukubi, Doma local government area to receive President Goodluck Jonathan who was in the state to commission the largest rice farm in Africa, the Nasarawa Assembly, after a 12 minutes plenary resolved to serve him with an impeachment notice. The Clerk of the Assembly, Mr. Ego Maikeffi, who claimed he was denied access into Nasarawa Government House to serve the impeachment notice opted to serve it through the media on July 17 thus laying the first foundation for what is considered to be serial constitutional breaches by the state Assembly. Consequently, at a plenary which was convened around 4am for fear of public protest, the lawmakers passed a resolution calling on the Chief Justice of the state to constitute a 7-man committee to investigate the 16- count charges they leveled against Governor Al-Makura. In compliance with constitutional provision, the Chief Judge of the State, Justice Suleiman Dikko, constituted the panel of investigation which sets the stage for the biggest factor that determined the outcome of the impeachment exercise. Section 188 (subsection 5) of the 1999 constitution as amended, states that the Chief Judge of the state shall at the request of the Speaker of the House of Assembly appoint a panel of seven persons “who in his own opinion” are of impeccable character and disinterested parties. No sooner was the panel inaugurated than the lawmakers raised alarm over what they termed constitutional breach in the composition of the membership of the panel. The lawmakers pointed out that two of the panel members were card carrying members of the PDP while the third person is a public servant. They said Mohammed Sabo Keana is a registered member of the PDP in Amiri Ward of Keana local government with registration number 8794402, while Alhaji Usman Galadima is registered with the same party at Angwan Rimi in Keffi local government with registration number 9880967. The lawmakers also contested that Rev. Dr. Joel Galadima is a member of the Nasarawa State Christian Pilgrims Welfare board who only last signed and collected his pay check form the board. The inclusion of the trio on the panel, the members observed, is a grave contravention of section 188 (5) of the 1999 Constitution (as ameded) which stipulates that persons to be appointed into such panels must be of “unquestionable integrity, not being members of any public service, legislative house or political party, to investigate the allegation”. There upon the stage was set for another controversial move by the state Assembly who were reported to have conducted a kangaroo sitting in a hotel suite in Karu local government directing the CJ to reconstitute the probe in the light of the aforementioned grounds. Reacting, a legal practitioner, Chief Jibrin Okutepa, (SAN) described both the purported proceedings held in Karu, and the resolutions passed by the 19 members as non- binding on any system. He said “They have no right to question the constitution of the panel by the (CJ). They have no powers over the CJ; if they have grievances arising from the action of the CJ in the CJ’s compliance with the provisions of Section 188, they have the option to go to court”, he explained. Nasarawa State government also expressed its position that the Assembly cannot probate and re- probate on a matter that is before His Lordship, the Chief Judge of the state. On the contrary, a press statement by the government signed by Senior Special Assistant to the governor on Public Affairs, Hon. Abdulhamid Kwarra, pointed out that “Should the members of the state House of Assembly be aggrieved with the compliance of the Chief Judge of Nasarawa State to the provision of section 188 sub-section5, the right thing to do is for the House to go to the court of law to challenge the composition of the investigative panel”. The state government also drew attention to the fact that the sitting of the House in Karu local government was not in conformity with any democratic requirement because no rule of the House permits the sitting of the Assembly anywhere in the state to conduct legislative affairs, adding that the sitting, “Is therefore ill-motivated, illegal and of no effect whatsoever”. More so, the Supreme Court has made a definitive declaration that the House of Assembly can only conduct its legislative functions in legally designated place in the state capital (Balonwu vs Obi 2007 NWLR PT1008/488). The panel however immediately swung into action barring any controversies surrounding their composition by the lawmakers by drafting their guideline of proceedings since the Assembly refused to provide one, arguably in protest
Posted on: Sun, 10 Aug 2014 17:05:20 +0000
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