— PDP claims responsibility for saga
By Ibrahim Abdul’Aziz
Yola
There are strong indications that the impeachment move against Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa state and his deputy Bala James Ngillari may have suffered a major setback, as 11 members of the state House of Assembly have allegedly backed out of the move,
This followed the intervention of prominent Nigerians, including former vice president Atiku Abubakar and former EFCC chairman Malam Nuhu Ribadu.
Sources privy to the development within the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) revealed that the high-level intervention of the major stakeholders of the party has started yielding positive results.
The impeachment move, which was initiated last Wednesday, was endorsed by 19 out of the 25 members of the all-PDP House of Assembly, meaning that six of the legislators have not appended their signatures to the impeachment notice.
The lawmakers who declined to endorse the impeachment move included former speaker of the House and arch supporter of Nyako, Hon. Sadiq Dasin from Fufore LGA, former deputy speaker Hon. (Mrs) Wale Fwa from Demsa LGA, Hon. Musa Mahmud from Mayo Belwa LGA, the home town of Governor Nyako; Hon. Abuzzari Suleiman Ribadu from Yola South LGA, Hon. Juggal Abdulsalam from Shelleng, and the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Hon. Ahmadu Umaru, from Madagali LGA.
But the refusal of the speaker of the House to append his signature to the impeachment notice has rankled many because he was seen to be the brains behind the impeachment move and the major beneficiary if it sailed through — if it succeeded he would be the acting governor.
A source said the move to enlist the support of the 11 lawmakers was a shrewd political calculation, for if it sailed through it would put a spanner in the works of the impeachment plan since 16 members are needed to effect the impeachment of the governor.
When contacted for her comment on the issue, one of the members who refused to endorse the move, Hon. Wale Fwa, said she was bereaved of a loved one and was not in the mood to comment on the issue.
Asked to react to the development, the chairman, House Committee on Information and member representing Michika LGA, Adamu Kamale, who was one of the members who initially endorsed the impeachment move, said, “I am sorry; I cannot discuss anything about impeachment for now.’’
All efforts to speak with Sadiq Dasin, one of the staunch supporters of the governor, proved abortive as all calls directed to his GSM number were not picked and an sms forwarded to him on the subject was not replied.
But the Chief Press Secretary to the speaker of the House of Assembly, Mr Solomon Kumangar, expressed doubts, saying that it can only emanate from mischief makers.
Kumangar said: “I am not aware that any member has backed out from the move but you should ask those making the insinuation to mention the names of those who backed out. It is apparent that people are ignorant about House resolutions because whenever resolutions are passed no one can infringe on them as they are irreversible.”
Meanwhile, the Clerk of the House of Assembly, Mr Francis Gbensenso, has confirmed that he was yet to serve the governor and his deputythe controversial notice of impeachment as directed by the Speaker on Wednesday, June 18, 2014.
He, however, said that the next line of action, to serve the two impeachment notices to the executive, was to publish the letters in at least two national dailies, which was equally a right alternative as advised by the assembly’s lawyers.
The clerk explained that both the governor and his deputy have sealed off their offices since the directive was given to him.
He said that he had made several attempts to deliver the letters but all to no avail due to the evasive disposition of the people concerned.
Investigation by Blueprint revealed that both Nyako and his deputy are out of the state as the latter travelled out of the country for medical treatment.
But a constitutional lawyer, Sunday Wigra, and Honourable Ibrahim Bappa Waziri, former member of the state assembly, have contrary views on the purported plan of using the media by the lawmakers to serve the impeachment notices.
“If the house should service Nyako and his deputy impeachment notice through newspapers it would become invalid”, said Wigra.
According to him, section 188(2) (b) of the Constitution says that the speaker of a house of assembly shall, within seven days of the receipt of notice, cause a copy of the notice to be served on the holder of the office, not through the media.
Waziri said: “There were flaws in the whole process. After the sitting, there was no adoption of votes of proceedings as enshrined in rules guiding proceedings of the state assembly, and even the impeachment notice, instead of being addressed to the governor and the deputy, was addressed to the speaker.’’
Also yesterday, startling revelations emerged that the PDP and its chieftains were behind the impeachment process.
Speaking in Yola, the state secretary of the party, Barrister. A.T. Shehu, said that they were spurred by the alleged maladministration being entrenched by Nyako to move for his impeachment in order to save Adamawa state from total collapse.
He added: “People are disenchanted by the bad leadership being promoted by Nyako’s administration. And as patriotic citizens we will not fold our arms to watch few individuals running the state aground, which informed our action to initiate the impeachment moves.”
Also, a former gubernatorial aspirant of the PDP in the 2011 primaries, Dr Umar Ardo, said the PDP stakeholders within and outside the state were behind the move to impeach Nyako and his deputy.
“I supported the impeachment of the governor and the deputy, and even before the move I have made that position very clear,” he said.
On the issue of freezing of the state’s bank accounts, Ardo said, “If the move is within the provision of the law.
If the move is contrary to stipulations of the law, then I am against it, because I am against anything that goes contrary to the law.