The Adamawa State House of Assembly in Yola has impeached the state Governor Murtala Nyako after considering and adopting a panel’s report that the governor is guilty of gross misconduct.
Eighteen out of the 24 members of the Assembly voted to impeach the governor after adopting the report of the seven-man panel set up to investigate allegations of gross misconduct against the governor and his deputy, Bala Ngilari.
Ngilari, had earlier submitted his letter of resignation to the Assembly on Tuesday morning, hours before the lawmakers could sack him and his principal.
The Speaker of the state assembly, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, was on Tuesday sworn in as acting governor.
In the absence of the governor and the resignation of the deputy, the constitution provides that the Speaker of the House will become the acting governor of the state.
Meanwhile, the impeached Governor of Adamawa State, Murtala Nyako, moments after the state lawmakers pushed him out of power, said he had accepted his fate but asked his traducers to be mindful of God’s judgment.
“Praise be to Allah, we accept what has happened. This is the judgment of man; we should all remember that there is God’s judgment in the hereafter, ”Nyako said through his Director of Press and Public Affairs, Ahmad Sajoh.
Sajoh stated that his principal had accepted his fate.
Nyako had also said on Tuesday that his deputy’s resignation remained a nullity because it did not follow constitutional procedure.
The ex-governor’s spokesman, in a statement, said, “We wish to state categorically that Section 306 (5) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as Amended requires that the deputy governor resigns not to the House of Assembly but to the governor.
“As of the time the supposed resignation was said to have been tendered in the House, Murtala Nyako was the Governor of Adamawa State.
“No such letter was written to him, none was received by him and none was approved by him. It should therefore be known that in the eyes of the Law, the deputy governor has not resigned. Bala James Ngillari is still the Deputy Governor of Adamawa State.
“This clarification is necessary to avert another subversion of the Constitution since the other processes relating to the impeachment saga have all been in contravention of the Constitution and the Law.”
The statement cautioned that the continued abuse of the constitution and the laws of the land might spell doom for Nigeria’s democracy. – Additional report from Punch.
