By Emeka Alex Duru
It was, indeed, not for nothing that perceptive analysts summarised the July 14 governorship poll in Ekiti State, as proxy war for 2019 general elections. Those that arrived at judgement, had taken into consideration the volume of tension and vices that trailed the exercise and had expressed fears on what the 2019 election would be, if such a stand-alone encounter could generate such storm.
Barely two weeks after the expression of fears on Ekiti, uncertain developments in Benue State, are adding weight to the concern by many on how next year’s election would look like.
By Monday, July 30, 2018, the crisis rocking the State House of Assembly, had taken a more frightening dimension when Eight out of the 30 lawmakers in the House, served the governor, Samuel Ortom, an impeachment notice. The eight legislators, all members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), had accused Ortom of gross misconduct.
Relations between Ortom and the House began to take turns for the unpredictable, when on Wednesday, July 25, he formally defected from the APC to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), citing unfair treatment on him and the state by APC leadership.
He had before then, been having a running battle with a senator and former governor of the state, George Akume, over the leadership of APC in Benue. The governor, had in fact, at the height of the impasse, lamented that he had been issued a red card in the politics of the party, thus leaving him in a position to seek political affiliation elsewhere.
In apparent move to ensure consolidation for the governor, 22 members of the Assembly, who were convinced of his action, had removed the Speaker of the House, Terkimbi Ikyange.
TheNiche even gathered that a Makurdi High Court presided by Hon. Justice Adam Onum, the Benue State Chief Judge, had subsequently, issued an injunction restraining the impeached Speaker from parading himself as the Speaker and to return all government property in his possession to the assembly.
The plenary was adjourned to 21st of August 2018.
But in a curious twist, the other eight who felt outwitted by their colleagues, staged a comeback, last Monday, taking the battle a notch higher by serving the governor an impeachment notice.
Reports, indicate that the eight lawmakers who took the action against the governor, were given security cover by the police, while the other 22, were prevented from gaining access into the Assembly.
Return of autocracy?
This is where Nigerians are baffled. For them, allowing eight members who are clearly in the minority access to the complex, while denying the other 22 the same measure, amounts to partisanship on the part of the police.
By press time, the police authorities were yet to confirm or deny the involvement of the personnel in the sordid drama.
But situations like this in the past where the men on uniform were known to have been overtly involved, leave little room for exonerating them from the confusion in Benue.
The path to the sordid drama in Benue, began to take shape under the current civilian dispensation, on December 9, 2005, when the then governor of Bayelsa State, Depreye Alamieyeseigha, who was accused of sundry corrupt practices and money laundering, was impeached by 17 out of the 24 members of the legislature, at the behest of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), then headed by Nuhu Ribadu.
At the time of his impeachment and arrest, Alamieyeseigha was having a running battle with the then President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Alamieyeseigha’s impeachment was followed by that of Ayo Fayose of Ekiti and his Deputy, Biodun Olujimi, on October 16, 2006. They were accused of corruption.
Joshua Dariye, of Plateau State, was the next victim of the impeachment by a Five-man State Assembly, on November 13, 2006.
Rasheed Ladoja of Oyo and Peter Obi of Anambra State, were equally subjected to the embarrassing treatment at various times.
Incidentally, the controversial impeachment exercises, except that of Alamieyeseigha, were eventually quashed by the Supreme Court.
Fayose’s term had however run out before the Apex Court handed him and his erstwhile deputy, clean bill of health.
There are insinuations that the forces behind the confusion in Benue, are aiming at the so-called “Fayose option”. Our reporter gathered that by this, the idea is to get Ortom out of Makurdi Government House and by the time he would be through with the judicial processes, elections for 2019 would have been held.
Two results are targeted. The first is to get him frustrated and possibly arrested, while the second, is to ensure that he does not get a re-election.
“It is what they are planning. The APC leadership is feeling embittered that he left the party. They have sworn to make him pay dearly for the action. Their agenda is to get him removed, arrested and by the time the Courts would give him reprieve, elections would have been concluded. We know their plan but we are waiting for them. Our people are no longer prepared to take any rubbish from any quarters, again. Enough is enough”, fumed Iornem Terhemba, a Benue indigene, in an encounter withTheNiche, on Monday.
Nigerians react
The impeachment move on Ortom, is already generating reactions from Nigerians. The governor has even dismissed the impeachment notice, insisting that he remains the Governor of the state.
Ortom who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Terver Akase, said the lawmakers who carried out the action, were not up to the required quorum that could carry out such decision. He also said that the necessary process towards impeaching a Governor were not even followed by the lawmakers.
Lawyers argue that initiating impeachment against a governor, would require at least two-thirds of the members endorsing the move. Two-thirds of the members in Benue instance, would mean 20.
Former Minister for Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode who also condemned the move, accused President Muhammadu Buhari of attempting to impeach the governor by brute force.
He tweeted, “Buhari’s latest show of shame in Benue is condemnable. Attempting to impeach Governor Ortom by brute force and gestapo tactics is disgraceful.
“Using a tiny handful of crooked lawmakers and hundreds of policemen will lead to anarchy. Buhari is playing with fire and he is on his way out.”
Senator Shehu Sani, who represents Kaduna Central, also kicked against the exercise. In apparent condemnation of the move, he reportedly tweeted “The right of the Governor and every Nigerian to belong to any political party should be respected. Respect my right to my choice even if you don’t believe in it”.
Versatile Journalist, Sylvester Asoya, also took exception to the impeachment move. On Monday, he posted on his facebook social media page: “Last week, I sounded the alarm bells that the All Progressives Congress, APC may lead Nigeria to hell. My fears have come alive in Benue State, North Central Nigeria, where a few lawmakers, backed by forces in Abuja are desperately working to impeach the governor of that state.
“This was exactly what the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP tried to do in Rivers State during the tenure of Chibuike Amaechi about five years ago. But like PDP, APC will fail in Benue”.
Former Vice President, and PDP presidential aspirant, Atiku Abubakar, also condemned the action. Reacting to the development in a statement in Abuja on Monday, Atiku said he was greatly embarrassed by the unfolding political drama in Benue.
He condemned the aberration and arbitrariness in the plot to oust Ortom contrary to the provisions of the country’s constitution, stressing that any attempt to disregard the rule of law and constitution in the impeachment of a governor is a recipe for anarchy and officially sanctioned lawlessness.
Toeing similar line of argument, PDP members in the House of Representatives, declared that the APC-led Federal Government is fast manifesting all the symptoms of autocracy in most of its engagements.
Benue of late, has been facing challenges of insecurity, on account of the menace of Fulani herdsmen.
Analysts, thus argue that further introduction of lawlessness in the state by the controversial impeachment process could only complicate an already bad situation.
