Adamawa State House of Assembly has not withdrawn its impeachment moves against the governor. But he seems to have gotten some breather, reports Senior Correspondent, ISHAYA IBRAHIM.
For now, Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State appears to have reclaimed his grip on power having almost lost it a few days ago. Last week, Nyako and his deputy, Bala James Ngilari, almost resigned their positions, but for the interventions of some forces.
Gov Nyako
What sin(s) did he commit? Was it because of his comment that the presidency was hiding behind the Boko Haram insurgency to launch a campaign of genocide in the North?
The governor was initially rattled learning that his emergency two-day public holiday aimed at foiling the inauguration of an investigative panel to probe him and his deputy could not stall his impeachment. At this point, his media aide, Ahmed Sajoh, informed journalists that his boss might resign to prevent a crisis situation. “The resignation is just an option. That is, if the whole thing will lead to a crisis situation, there will be no option than to resign,” he said.
However, interventions from some former heads of State and leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and powerful traditional rulers in the state turned the tide of events in Nyako’s favour.
On July 10, the governor, after weeks of inactivity in governance, carried on with the affairs of the state by swearing in 36 Development Area Administrators, four Permanent Secretaries and a Special Adviser.
During the ceremony at the Government House, Yola, the governor was said to be excited, giving the impression that he was confident that he would overcome the impeachment. A day earlier, Nyako attended the National Council of State meeting where the ex-Heads of State made strong case for him before President Goodluck Jonathan at another private meeting.
Impact of the interventions
Nyako had good reasons to be confident. Last week, the council of chiefs and emirs in his state convened a meeting at the palace of Lamido of Adamawa, Mohammadu Barkindo Aliyu, in Yola.
The Lamido said the meeting of the traditional rulers was geared towards intervening in the imbroglio involving the executive and the legislature in the state.
The APC leadership also intervened. The leaders, including former vice president, Atiku Abubakar; former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nuhu Ribadu; and national leader of the APC, Muhammadu Buhari; were said to have pull their weights behind Nyako.
The interventions, it appears, was the magic wand that put several bottlenecks on the way of the Assembly members in their bid to impeach Nyako. First was that their seven-man investigative panel could not find venue to hold their hearing.
The management of J & J Holiday Villa, where the panel first sat, ejected them. The panel had held its maiden sitting there, but the management of the hotel, the following day, sent them packing for “security reasons”.
The panel also tried the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) club, but was denied accommodation on the ground that the chairman of the union was away on lesser hajj to Saudi Arabia.
It was also said that the committee approached the Nigerian Union of Journalist (NUJ), but the leadership of the union declined to give out the conference hall because they had unanimously agreed to be neutral on the impeachment saga.
On July 10, the a national newspaper quoted secretary of the panel, Esthon Binano, as saying that the panel secured a venue at the office of the Medical and Health Workers Union.
“We have started sitting, a motion was moved and all parties were invited to appear before the panel on Friday. The invitations were pasted on the walls of their offices,” said the barrister.
The panel had earlier faced the challenge of serving the governor and his deputy their letters because security operatives attached to them prevented the delivery of the letters.
The panel thus pasted their invitation letters at the gates of the Government House and the Deputy Governor’s Office.
Governor sounding confident
Feeling that events were swinging in his favour, Nyako, whose media aide earlier hinted that he might resign later, said resignation was no longer an option.
The governor, who said this at the Presidential Villa last Wednesday when he addressed journalists, also added: “It is in the court and the court said the impeachment process was not well done. We are hoping that if they want to do it, they will do it following the normal process in whatever they want to do.”
He also said he would enlist the president’s support when the need arises to resolve the political situation in his state. “We have supported him (the president) all this time; he has supported us and in situations like these when Mr. President’s support is required, we will seek it,” the governor stressed. Indeed, Nyako is optimistic the president’s support will come, but at what cost to Jonathan and his party is what analysts are evaluating.
Once jolly good fellows
Analysts are of the view that the situation in Adamawa is a proxy war in which the House of Assembly members were acting as front for President Jonathan.
Nyako’s problem started when he fell out with Jonathan early 2012, culminating in his defection to the APC.
Before they fell out of favour, Nyako was Jonathan’s right hand man, fixing knotty political issues for him, especially in the North East region. For that, the president appointed him his honourary adviser on agriculture.
In the build-up to the 2011 presidential election, Jonathan’s major challenger in the PDP, Atiku Abubakar, was put under check by Nyako.
In fact, Nyako ensured that Atiku faced numerous hurdles when he wanted to return to the PDP after his stint in the defunct Action Congress (AC) where he contested for president in 2007.
Nyako then said the PDP in Adamawa would not tolerate anyone who would not let peace reign in the state. “I only read about Atiku’s activities on the pages of newspapers. Even when he declared in 2007, he wasn’t a member of any party, so he is declaring today again with no party,” Nyako had said.
In the PDP primary, delegates from Adamawa, Atiku’s supposed stronghold, voted overwhelmingly for Jonathan, courtesy of Nyako.
But political exigencies and self-survival put a wedge in their friendship. Bamanga Tukur, the then PDP national chairman who is also from Adamawa, was Jonathan’s most trusted ally in Wadata House, PDP’s national headquarters.
The president found Tukur’s loyalty an important factor in securing the PDP’s ticket for 2015 presidential election.
But there was a clash of interest on who would control the Adamawa chapter of the PDP between Tukur and Nyako.
Tukur, it was alleged, wanted his son to succeed Nyako as governor and so allegedly needed to control the party’s structure in the state, leading to the factionalisation of the party.
The president, it was said, backed Tukur’s faction of the PDP in Adamawa.
Angered by what he felt was Jonathan’s ill treatment, he defected to the APC along with other aggrieved governors of the party including Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara) and Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers).
Perhaps, Nyako’s unforgivable sin against the presidency was when he accused him of hiding behind the Boko Haram insurgency to launch a campaign of genocide in the North. Unfortunately for Nyako, he came under fire when, at the National Council of State meeting, he could not substantiate his allegation.
Political or legal impeachment?
Former chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ikeja branch, Monday Ubani, thinks the lawmakers were running afoul with the law in their bid to impeach Nyako.
“What constitutes gross misconduct is clearly left at the whims and caprices of the members of the House. Whatever they term as misconduct becomes misconduct. The constitution is not very specific as to defining what constitutes gross misconduct.
“But in impeaching a governor, you must follow all the procedures as outlined by the constitution. The moment you miss complying with the applying procedures in the impeachment of a governor, the court will nullify the entire proceeding.
“From what I am reading in the newspapers, there are issues with the Adamawa impeachment proceedings. One, the man, till now, has not been properly served. Second, there was an injunction restraining the constitution of the panel. Third, I also hear that the members that sat to constitute the panel were not up to two-third of the membership of the House as required by the constitution.
“So, whatever they will come up with, I see the court probably nullifying the entire process,” Ubani said.
For a lecturer at the Department of Politics and International Relations, Lead City University, Ibadan, Dr. Tunde Oseni, this is another replay of the impeachment of former Kaduna State governor, Balarabe Musa.
“The dimension of events leading to the impeachment of Balarabe Musa and the current one in Adamawa are very similar. You have a House of Assembly that is dominated by an opposition party that is trying to weed out a governor that does not belong to their party.
“During Balarabe Musa’s time, NPN (National Party of Nigeria} dominated the House of Assembly and they impeached successfully Balarabe Musa who, of course, did not commit any known offence. Musa was in the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP).
“The case in Adamawa now is very similar in the sense that the House of Assembly is dominated by the PDP, and Nyako has declared for APC. I think it is more political than legal. Impeachment is supposed to be a legal instrument to check either a politically or economically corrupt governor. But it has been used largely in Nigeria for political reasons,” Oseni said.