Adamawa State chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Hon. Binta Masi Garba has disclosed that the failure of Governor Murtala Nyako to give Adamawa lawmakers about N1.25bn constituency project funds was one of the reasons behind the governor’s impeachment.
Garba, who made the disclosure at a press briefing at the state party secretariat, said the lawmakers had confronted the governor with a request for N50m each for constituency projects which he refused to oblige as a result of which the lawmakers felt offended and succumbed to the impeachment move planned by the PDP.
She added that, in the wake of the demand, the former governor had agreed to pay the lawmakers the sum of N5OOm for the constituency projects and even gave them the sum of N350m, but, despite that, they were not pacified as they went ahead to connive with the PDP to get the governor impeached.
Garba has similarly berated the PDP for the orchestration of Nyako’s impeachment, saying that the move was a ploy to coerce the opposition into joining the party.
She said the party could not tolerate the naked use of power by the PDP by engaging in threats or impeachment of the opposition governors, saying that, as a party which respects the rule of law, APC will use democratic means in recapturing its mandate stolen by the PDP, adding that it has since filed a suit to challenge the PDP.
She said the visit of the acting governor to the PDP secretariat to intimate them that he has captured Adamawa for them is all that is needed to understand that the PDP was behind the sordid impeachment saga which was conducted with the highest form of impunity.
Garba also berated the PDP-dominated state House of Assembly for double standard. She said that sequel to the impeachment move against the governor, the house had passed a vote of confidence giving the governor a clean slate, wondering what had happened within months to make the house take a volte face.
She said from the beginning up to the end of the whole sordid development, the impeachment process was legally flawed on several fronts, as notice of impeachment was not personally served on the governor in line with the requirements of the country’s constitution and ruling of the apex court in the land, the Supreme Court.
According to her, despite a subsisting court order issued by the state acting chief judge restraining the state legislature from proceeding with the issue pending the determination of the case, the same acting chief judge went ahead to set up a panel to investigate the allegations in direct contravention of his earlier order which he had not vacated.
“This and other illegalities send dangerous signals of the manipulation of the judiciary for narrow political objectives,” she said.
If the judiciary is not insulated from party politics, but rather allows itself to be used to subvert democratic values, the country stands the risk of sliding into anarchy”.
She added that, as a result of the desperation by the PDP for power before the 2015 general elections, it has been using the instruments of government to coerce the people. The country stands the risk of sliding into anarchy, she added.
“Had Nyako remained in the PDP, would he have been impeached? This abuse of power against the opposition is pernicious, selfish, ill-motivated and dangerous for Nigeria’s democracy,” she said.
The chairman declared that the destruction of the opposition, even if it is possible, will inevitably lead to the destruction of democracy itself as we have seen in several countries of the world.
The APC leadership also observed that the development had made PDP be perceived as ruthless, unscrupulous and an anti-democratic political party bent on retaining power in 2015 at all cost — fair or foul.
“This is unacceptable, futile and should be resisted,” she said. Leadership
