— Probe panel begins sitting in hotel
By Ameh Ejekwonyilo, Abuja, Muazu Abari and Ibrahim Abdul’aziz, Yola
As the impeachment storm continues to blow in Adamawa state, Governor Murtala Nyako is set to resign from office today, Blueprint has learnt.
The governor, alongside his deputy, Mr Bala Ngillari, is currently facing impeachment moves from members of the state House of Assembly over allegations of gross misconduct.
A seven-member panel set up by the state acting Chief Judge, Ambrose Mammadi, to investigate the allegations, commenced sitting in Yola yesterday despite the declaration of a public holiday by the governor to scuttle the impeachment move.
The holiday was announced on Sunday by Abdulrahman Abba, the Chief of Staff to the governor, who said it was meant to enable indigenes of the state to pray for the return of peace to the state.
Although the assembly, in its directive to the Chief Judge to set up the panel, said the sitting should be made public, security operatives denied reporters access to the venue of the sitting.
A source close to the governor, who asked not to be named in print, said: “Governor Nyako, who left Yola for Abuja on Sunday, is on his way back to the Adamawa state capital to tender his resignation letter. He is on his way back to resign so that his deputy can take over.”
Blueprint also gathered that Nyako’s decision to resign was to force the Speaker of the Assembly, Umaru Fintiri, widely regarded as the arrowhead of the impeachment moves, to also leave office.
The source added: “You know the speaker and the deputy governor come from the same town and local government, so once the deputy governor is sworn in, he (the speaker) will have to resign, too.
“You would recall that last ditch efforts were being made by former vice-president Atiku Abubakar to stop the impeachment from becoming a reality.”
The source also said the former VP already had a meeting with Malam Nuhu Ribadu, another All Progressives Congress (APC) stalwart from the state, in order to perfect the plan.
Nyako’s spokesperson, Ahmad Sajoh, could not be reached for comments on the planned resignation as calls put through to his mobile phones were neither answered nor returned.
Earlier yesterday, the seven-man probe panel constituted last Friday by Justice Mammadi commenced sitting in a hotel, J&J Holiday Villa, located at Atirwucha Close in Karewa GRA of the state capital.
The hotel was protected by heavily armed security personnel drawn from the military and police.
The committee went ahead with its sitting even without being inaugurated by the acting chief judge.
This was in violation of one of the terms of reference initially approved by the lawmakers that the investigation panel would carry out its assignment in public.
However, journalists were prevented from covering the committee’s proceeding as one of the soldiers who was stationed at the entrance of the venue told them that he was under instruction not to allow anybody, including reporters, to go in.
All efforts by reporters to get access into the venue proved abortive.
Even though the lawmakers told journalists that they would link up with them, they did not do so up till the time of filing in this report.
Earlier, when contacted over the inability of the acting CJ to formally inaugurate the committee, the Chief Registrar of the state High Court, Abubakar Baba Yola, told reporters that it was not constitutional or compulsory for the CJ to inaugurate the committee before it could start its assignment.
He said as soon as the committee was formed, it had the right to commence its assignment immediately.
“The chairman of the committee can inaugurate his members,” he said.
Meanwhile, civil servants in the state yesterday complied with the public holiday declared by the government as all government offices across the state were under lock and key.
