Legislators in the Nasarawa State House of Assembly on Monday adopted alleged impeachment offences to be served on Governor Tanko Al-Makura.
Speaker of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly, Alhaji Musa Ahmed, on Monday, directed the Clerk of the House to serve the governor with notice of impeachment for acts of gross misconduct.
The Speaker’s directive followed a motion of public interest raised by the Deputy Majority Leader of the House, Mr.Yahaya Usman (PDP-Umaisha/Ugya), during the house plenary in Lafia.
The lawmaker presented a document containing allegations of gross misconduct against the governor, which he said was signed by 20 of the 24 members of the Assembly.
He said “I am on my feet to raise a motion under a matter of public interest and I will go direct to read the document I have in my hand. This is a notice of impeachment of Governor Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa State for gross misconduct.
“And for the violation of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended, today being the 14th July, 2014, the 20 members of the 24 members of this House unanimously endorsed to serve Governor Tanko Al-Makura notice of impeachment.”
The Chief Whip of the House, Mr. Mohammed Okpede, (PDP-Doma North), seconded the motion to serve Al-Makura with the impeachment notice over alleged misconduct.
Alhaji Musa Ahmed (PDP-Nasarawa Central), who doubles as the Speaker of the House, officially received the impeachment notice and noted that the House had complied with the provision of the constitution to serve the governor with an impeachment notice.
The Speaker subsequently directed the Clerk to serve the impeachment notice on Al-Makura on Monday.
He said, “While in the event that the governor could not be reached for service, the clerk is directed to serve him with the impeachment notice through the media.”
The Chairman, House Committee on Information and Security, Baba Ibaku, told The PUNCH that the governor had siphoned state funds and should not be allowed to continue as the chief security officer of the state.
Ibaku, who represents Loko/Udege constituency, alleged that Al-Makura had spent over N2bn from the local government joint account without recourse to due process.
He said the governor allegedly used one Mr. Usman Saraki as a front to swindle the state of over N800m as a consultant to SUBEB. He also said over N700m was missing from the SURE-P accounts.
He said the governor had sacked over 10,000 workers from the state payroll without following due process.
“The governor has gone beyond his constitutional boundaries and must face the law like every other Nigerian because he is not sacrosanct to the constitution of our land,” Ibaku declared.
The state chairman of the APC, Philip Shekwo, said the party would respond at the appropriate time.
Also reacting to the impeachment notice, the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party in the state, Yunna Iliya, said he had not been briefed about any impeachment notice to the governor.
