Abdulhameed Kwarra,a former Majority Leader in Nasarawa State House of Assembly and currently Senior Special Assistant (Public Affairs) to the embattled Nasarawa state governor. In this interview in Abuja, the governor’s aide speaks on the Constitutional provisions under which Governor Tanko Al-Makura could be impeached, saying the lawmakers lack basis to initiate such. MOSES JOHN reports
Power tussle and impeachment threats on Al-Makura
It is already a public knowledge that on Monday 13th of July 2014, the Nasarawa State House of Assembly had a special sitting and resolved to serve the Executive Governor of Nasarawa State with an impeachment notice. Now, it is horrible like I said in the public forum. The issue of serving His Excellency with an impeachment notice is no longer news now, what is instructive is the fact that as I speak to you now, on authority Nasarawa State House of Assembly is yet to effect that service to the executive governor of Nasarawa State. That is to say the so-called notice of impeachment has not yet been formally or officially served on the governor.
What of the advertorial recently carried in some national dailies?
Last week, the 17th of July 2014, some national dailies carried publication of what we assumed in the opinion of Nasarawa State House of Assembly, are the allegations. On the surface of it, you are accusing the governor of extra budgetary expenses and misappropriation of the appropriation law. So, that is the position.
Is the allegation baseless?
Whether or not the allegation is true again has to do with understanding the content of the allegation in itself. First , we need to understand what the budget is. A budget is a projection of income and expenditure statement expressed in financial terms to be expended within a fiscal year or period. Therefore, if you are talking of extra budgetary expenditure, it simply means you have over spent what the budget provision has provided for you. Now, the constitution is very clear as it relates to, if you over spend or if you under spend and how that issue should be tackled. That is one.
When you talk about appropriation, you are now talking about whether it’s a legal instrument of sectoral and sub-sectoral allocation of funds authorising the executive governor to expend, also within a fiscal year. If you say he has misappropriated that is to say he has not kept faith or compliance with the provisions of that law, again its subject to which of the appropriation law the Assembly is talking about.
Because from 2011,12,13 to 2014 appropriation law is still in progress, so which of these appropriations has he misappropriated? That is why I said we cannot on the basis of what we read on the paper join issues with the Assembly, but if they give us the details formally, the details will contain exactly what they are talking about and it is on the basis of that we would be able to respond and establish whether the allegations are true or false.
However, the long and short of the matter from the surface of what we have seen in the newspaper I will tell you on authority that the allegations are cooked up, frivolous, baseless and lacks any substance.
Where do you think these allegations are coming from?
I wouldn’t want to speak for the House of Assembly on what may have been their motive, but let me assume what may have been the causes of the current political impasse, or what may have triggered or necessitated or led to initiating an impeachment process in Nasarawa State. It is a combination of factors, one of which is the Abuja factor. You see, the PDP and the Abuja authorities suddenly came to terms with reality that a formidable opposition political party, the APC, has emerged and the emergence of the APC certainly threatened the statuesque. Therefore, whatever the PDP can do to destabilise those APC controlled states is simply a matter of political strategy because we are heading towards 2015.
Back home in Nasarawa State, there is a conflict of political interest one between the executive and the legislature. At a point in time, the governor wanted to bring back democratic structures in the local government areas. Members of the Assembly would not want that.
They would prefer a transition management committee, meaning the governor should propose a transition management committee where they would approve and you have appointed leadership for the local governments.
In doing so, they wanted a sharing in the ratio of 7:6, meaning the governor will nominate leadership of 7 local governments while the members of the Assembly from within themselves based on their convenience, will also constitute the remaining 6. I don’t want to go to the objective of that but the governor felt no, let us go for a democratic process restraining the local government to a democratic structure, which means let’s conduct local government election, to the governor conducting local government election will satisfy two statutory reasons.
One is a referendum on his person being a governor of the people, that will be a referendum to see how the people would assess his administration or evaluate his performance in office because he is a product of credible, transparent free and fair election.
To the members of the same House of Assembly also is a referendum, because that would test their popularity and behold, when the elections were held, the APC had 9 local governments while the PDP was left with only 4 local governments.
It follows therefore that members of the House of Assembly that come from these 9 local governments the APC won the election automatically know their fate come 2015, because it affects their prospects of being re-elected in 2015, so this is one among so many other internal conflict of interests between the executive and the legislators.
And again the PDP that lost power is still nursing the defeat and still living in the nightmare of that defeat and would not accept the fact that they lost. So, they have been trying, having lost power for 12 good years, whatever it takes even if it means coming from behind the door, let them get back and take over power that is another factor.
There is another interest that I would call the sentimental aspect which is the religious. Those that are advancing and promoting the cause of religion, you also have the likes of people who have been out of power or out of government for so long and now if you have a new government, it’s an opportunity to have may be new appointees coming on board enjoying government patronage. All these things are internal conflict of interest.
As a former lawmaker, is it proper to serve impeachment notice through newspaper?
In fact, that is the more reason I keep emphasizing and reiterating the fact that we have not yet been formally and officially served.
Impeachment as contemplated under section 188 of the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended does not take the issue of impeachment as if it’s children’s birthday party. It’s a very serious business to remove the governor or the deputy governor.
It follows therefore that the provisions of the Constitution and as it is being contemplated must be strictly adhered to. So, in serving a governor an impeachment notice, it is expected that the governor must personally be served. They should know where in the Constitution and I challenge anybody, in particular, members of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly themselves, to prove or to show any authority over the constitution of the rules of the house that has given them any other alternative other than what the constitution clearly stipulates.
Besides the Supreme Court in the case of Peter Obi vs the State House of Assembly made definitive declaration on how service should be effected when it comes to issues of impeachment. The man has to be served notice of impeachment personally, anything outside this provision remains a mirage.
Is it true that the Governor is trying to avert this service?
That is speculative. The governor is in Lafia as at yesterday but he came into Abuja today to attend a function of the American Embassy.
Pronouncement of the state lawmakers from Abuja
Unfortunately that question ought to have been referred to them as members of the House of Assembly. Please, let me take you to the ruling of the Supreme Court in the case of one of these impeachment cases.
They made it very clear, any impeachment at all has to be in a designated place they call the State House of Assembly for you to effect anything that has to do with this. If you do it outside that place, you are only wasting your time.
Your views on substituted service
For the process of substituted service, you must obtain a relief of court before you effect a substituting service and how do you obtain a relief of court?.
It has to go through a court, motion and asking the court, giving the court clearly the mode of how you want to effect the substituting service. Is it by pasting it on the wall is it by throwing it on the man’s body, is it by giving it to his wife.
The court has to clearly give you a relief before you even effect it, ask the members of the State House of Assembly if what they publish passed through all this process. That is why I said we assume in the opinion of the Assembly because I am not speaking in the authority for the Assembly. So, I wouldn’t know,any other person could have published that. How do I know it is Nasarawa State House of Assembly? So it would be wrong for me to say Nasarawa State House of Assembly published, I don’t have authority and I cannot justify that but what I can tell you is that what we saw is an assumption that it is own opinion purported to be what they stand for.
What we saw as being published in those national dailies to assumption is to be what the Assembly intended to do because we cannot justify and prove that it is the House of Assembly that has done that.
Beyond the political turmoil would you say Al-Makura had made any significant impact on the lives of the people?
In fact, what elicited the reaction of the people are two folds. Like I said, the people had been under suppression or some kind of enslavement for more than 12years of PDP rule with nothing to show for it. And any other Nigerian who followed closely the 2011 election would have appreciated the fact that in Nasarawa State it was a perfect election.
For somebody coming, somebody who is unknown as a political gladiator in an unknown political party or a party that has just been registered -the CPC, he defected from the PDP moved and picked a ticket in the CPC as a political platform defeated an incumbent governor.
It speaks volume for itself, that shows the disconnection or disenchantment of the people with the government that had been ruling them for 12 good years. Now, the people of Nasarawa State are feeling or can see visibly the difference between the government they had between 1999 and 2011 and the government they had elected today.
I challenge anybody to go to Nasarawa State today, you will be convinced beyond reasonable doubt what you see with your two eyes that governance has received a boost in terms of infrastructural development.
Social service delivery cuts across almost all sectors of the social fabrics of the state. That is to say this government has been responsive to the yearnings and aspirations of the people and they feel the impact positively of the administration in the state.
That is the more reason why the people themselves went out in protest, it was a spontaneous reaction people trying to defend their mandate that you cannot take it away from the back door and they are willing to defend that mandate at any time.
Implication of the protest amidst current security challenge
Well, in terms of claiming lives, I don’t have it on authority, so I can’t speak for it. But in terms of the security challenges, everybody in this country knows that the security challenges are so overwhelming and it is sad if not most unfortunate that the authorities in Abuja are busy opening new war fronts simply because they want to satisfy selfish political ambition come 2015.
Let me be more emphatic. If there is a threat to our democracy today, blame nobody for it but the same political class because what is a threat to our democracy today is this selfish desire to cling onto power even when you are not popular.
Politicians in this country are not thinking of the next generation, they are not thinking of tomorrow or leaving legacies for others coming behind. The order of the day is how to embezzle money. From the day you are elected you are already thinking of the next election.
It is very sad and that is why today we are gradually moving to a state of anarchy. Even this so-called impeachment saga that is going on in the country, you could see the third eye or third hand, it is a threat, see how they are going about it with impunity. You see the crisis in Adamawa State for instance, in fact the powers that be because of their interest they have complicated the issue in Adamawa State.
I will tell you on good authority and I would challenge anybody that what took place in Adamawa State is sheer display of political power, arrogance and an abuse of the rule of law and believe me what has taken place in Adamawa State under normal circumstances that impeachment is reversible, because they have from all fronts violated the law.
