After the drama of the November 21 inconclusive governorship election, Kogi State, where two of Nigeria’s major rivers meet, is again offering the political tableau another drama with the narrative of an inconclusive impeachment!
By Kingsley Fanwo
Trouble started in the Kogi State House of Assembly last Wednesday when 17 of the 25 legislators allegedly signed up for the impeachment of the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Momoh Jimoh Lawal. The Speaker was accused of among other things of “gross ineptitude and high-handedness”.
For about two weeks, some members of the Assembly were said to have met at a popular hotel in Lokoja to hatch the impeachment plot.
On Wednesday December 9, 2015, the cloud of uncertainty was lifted as about nine lawmakers rose on the floor of the House almost simultaneously to raise a motion in support of the speaker’s impeachment.
Speaker’s impeachment
The lawmakers were led by Hon. Gabriel Osiyi of Ogori/Magongo Constituency and Hon. Matthew Kolawole Matthew of Kabba/Bunu Constituency who is also the Majority Leader of the House.
Violence erupted almost immediately as lawmakers loyal to the Speaker rose to attack his antagonists. As the fisticuffs ensued, a legislator rose to move a motion for the adjournment of the House, a request which was obliged hastily by the Speaker who promptly adjourned House sittings till February 3, 2016.
Immediately the adjournment was announced, the Sergeant-at-arms bolted away with the mace even as the legislators against the speaker protested and waited back to carry out the “impeachment of the Speaker, Deputy Speaker and Minority Leader”.
Thereafter, the remaining legislators who were about nine in number but claimed to have the signatures of 17 members for the impeachment, “elected” Hon. Gabriel Osiyi of Ogori/Magongo Constituency as the “new Speaker”.
Since then, Osiyi and Lawal have been in conflict over the appropriateness of the impeachment of Lawal and the election of Osiyi.
The Majority Leader of the House, Prince Kolawole who was in the lead in the move to remove the presiding officer told Vanguard that there was no going back on the impeachment, saying the Speaker lacks capacity to ensure effective leadership of the House.
According to the Majority Leader, the invasion of the Assembly complex by thugs is an admission of failure by the ousted Speaker. He said the House leadership will probe the invasion and the attack of the sponsored thugs on Assembly staff and journalists.
Giving his own version to Vanguard, Lawal said the purported impeachment was a ruse. He said the House had been adjourned till February 2016 before the “dissidents allegedly came up with forged signatures” to impeach him. He said the police and other security agencies have been contacted to probe the forgery.
His words: “Impeachment is a serious business and it has a process. You don’t just wake up one morning to say you have impeached a speaker.
“But apart from the process failure, they also carried out their illegal act after we had adjourned sitting till February 2016. There was no mace at the place they purportedly used their forged signatures to showcase their ignorance. As far as the House is concerned, I remain the Speaker of the Kogi State House of Assembly”.
However, Hon. Gabriel Osiyi who was elected after Lawal’s removal that Wednesday affirmed that Lawal was legally impeached by 17 legislators.
He said Lawal as well as the Deputy Speaker and the Minority Leader, remain impeached.
To compound the confusion, the new Speaker has pledged to reconvene the House on Wednesday 16th December, 2015 against the earlier announcement by the embattled Speaker, Lawal, that the House had adjourned till February 2016.
Control of the House
The confusion in the House is exacerbated by the continuing loyalty of the House bureaucracy to Lawal. The clerk of the House and the Sergeant-at-arms are both said to be loyal to Lawal.
However, the entire scenario may witness a drastic reversal if the State Government has a hand in the entire scenario. As it is, the government has been exonerated from accusation of meddling with the crisis. Rather, accusing fingers have been pointed to the opposition party.
It is yet to be seen how the PDP-dominated House could be hijacked by the opposition. Moreover, the role played by the Majority Leader doesn’t suggest the APC has a hand in the impasse rocking the Kogi Assembly.
Osogbo—Two days after hoodlums suspected to be sympathetic to the All Progressives Congress, APC allegedly unleashed terror on anti-Aregbesola’s protesters in Osogbo, some residents of the state capital were again yesterday attacked over an alleged opposition stance against the governor.
The fresh attack took place at a popular news-stand, Makson Junction, opposite old Governor’s Office in Osogbo with several innocent people sustaining various degrees of injuries.
The thugs numbering about 25 stormed the place in six mini-buses and with all kinds of arms such as guns, axes and cudgels started chasing and beating up anyone at sight.
The attacks were linked to those sympathetic to Governor Rauf Aregbesola in the game of wits between the government and a serving judge,
When contacted, APC director of Publicity and Strategy, Mr Kunle Oyatomi said the party has decided not to comment on the issue.
Also, Aregbesola’s Director of media and publicity, Mr Semiu Okanlawon refused to pick several calls put across to him for his comment. He also refused to reply the text message.
According to one of the victims of yesterday’s attack, a vendor, Mr Kazeem Madamidola, the hoodlums accused people around the area of being anti-Aregbesola and that those gathering to read newspapers at the news-stand were said to be speaking against the governor.
“The thugs pulled down my news-stand, tore all the newspapers and started beating people up. They accused them of booing Aregbesola during the rally on Tuesday and threatened that by today, they will kill anyone who comes around here”, he said.
Meantime, the Civil Societies Coalition for Emancipation of Osun State, CSCEO, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to call Aregbesola to order, saying the governor’s plan was to create an atmosphere of fear in the state.
The group condemned the fresh attack by the APC thugs on innocent citizens of the state as unwarranted, sad and barbaric.
The group’s Chairman, Comrade Adeniyi Alimi Sulaiman stated, “We condemn this unprovoked attack because attacking innocent citizens of our state cannot solve the problems on ground. This is democracy and every Nigerian has the right to freedom of speech as guaranteed by the 1999 constitution.
“The whole world is aware of Aregbesola’s unpopularity in the state. His plan is to keep peoples’ mouths shut and create an atmosphere of fear so as to put us in perpetual bondage.
He warned Aregbesola to desist from his despotic rule and face the enormous challenges before the state while calling on the state House of Assembly to intensify its probe of Aregbesola’s government.
Sulaiman called on security agencies to brace up and ensure that those “perpetrating trouble and engaging in these violence are apprehended and brought to book”.
The impeachment plot against the Niger State Governor, Aliyu Babangida, may have been stalled as the members of the state House of Assembly pushing for the governor’s removal have been paid N17m each.
Governor Aliyu, Niger State
Our correspondent gathered that the lawmakers after receiving the N17m each were also promised by the state government that their other demands would soon be met.
Consequently, the lawmakers have decided to stop the impeachment move against the governor.
Though the Speaker, state House of Assembly, Isah Kawu, refused to comment on the issue when our correspondent sought his reaction to the development, sources at the assembly complex including lawmakers, who pleaded anonymity, confirmed the development.
The speaker, who spoke to our correspondent on the telephone said, “I cannot speak on this issue on the telephone or anywhere on the matter.”
But one of the lawmakers confirmed this to our correspondent.
He said, “It was not as if the governor bribed us, it is our legal entitlements and we have a right to ask for it before the expiration of our tenure. We have been paid and calm has returned to the assembly complex.”
Asked whether it was true that the lawmakers had dropped the impeachment plot against the governor, the lawmaker said, “there is no need for it again.”
Another source in the state House of Assembly Complex told our correspondent that each of the lawmakers was paid N17m as part of the allowances they were being owed since February.
This development, the source, who is a worker in the assembly complex said, had brought calm to the House of Assembly complex as the state police command had withdrawn security operatives from the building. This, he added, had given the lawmakers free access into their offices.
It will be recalled that last week, the lawmakers had sacked the leadership of the assembly and elected a new leadership over a series of allegations including non-implementation of house resolutions, poor staff and members’ welfare and non-release of the statutory allocation to the assembly for months. This, it was learnt, was done to pave the way for the removal of the governor.
To frustrate the lawmakers, the governor had headed for the court where he secured an order to restrain the legislators from making any move to impeach him.
The governor had gone to the court after the peace meeting between him(Aliyu) and the newly elected principal officers of the House failed.
The House of Assembly was also occupied by security operatives for so many days to prevent the members from entering into the assembly complex to carry out their legislative duties.
Due to this, Kawu had threatened to institute a legal action against the Niger State Police Commissioner, Mr. Emmanuel Amore, over what he described as the illegal occupation of the state House of Assembly by security operatives.
Minna-Speaker of Niger State House of a Assembly, Barrister Usman Adamu has been impeached and a new Speaker sworn in immediately.
As early as 7:30am, over 200 armed policemen and other security agents were seen keeping vigil at the Assembly as they prevented everybody from gaining entrance into the complex.
However, some desperate members of the House who defied the presence of the armed security men at the gate and forced their way into the assembly complex after damaging the key and the chain used in locking the gate.
The 19 All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers in Ekiti State House of Assembly have served Governor Ayo Fayose and his deputy,Dr Olusola Olubunmi Eleka, notice of gross misconduct.
The lawmakers, who left the state last November after the purported impeachment of the Speaker, Hon Adewale Omirin, staged a come back on Wednesday after INEC pronounced General Muhammadu Buhari the president-elect, stormed the assembly and hurriedly held a prayer session.
The comeback came as the seven PDP lawmakers, led by factional Speaker, Hon Dele Olugbemi, held plenary in the House. When it was apparent that the face -off between the APC and PDP lawmakers could lead to the breaking down of law and order,the state Police Commissioner,Mr Taiwo Lakanu ordered his men to seal-off the House.
According to the letter, said to have been sent to the governor by the APC lawmakers, titled, Re: Notice of Allegations of Gross Misconduct , eight impeachable allegations were levelled against him.
These include invasion of the House of Assembly with thugs and micreants, instigating unconstitutional take over of the House by seven legislators to sit in contravention of Section 96(2) of the Constitution, prevention of 19 APC legislative members from performing legislative duties with the use of security agents and armed thugs and sponsoring an unlawful impeachment process in the House.
Responding, Fayose described the APC lawmakers as jesters.
The governor, who said he read the notice of the impeachment like any other person online, noted that Omirin has ceased being the Speaker of the House.
“The script being acted by the APC is a failed one because no one, no matter how highly placed will be allowed to test the will of Ekiti people,” he stated.
He said the purported impeachment notice was the “joke of the century”. “The Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly is Hon Dele Olugbemi and not Dr Adewale Omirin”, he said.
In a statement by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Fayose said: “Omirin is already in court, challenging his impeachment and common sense dictates that when you are challenging an action already taken in court, you have accepted the consequences of such action pending the determination of the suit you filed.”
He explained that the APC lawmakers should stop advertising their ignorance and crudity in the market place by posting impeachment notice online.
“Since last year November, these so-called lawmakers abdicated their duties and ran to Lagos only for them to resurfaced on Wednesday, but they hurriedly ran away again.
“Now they are posting notice of impeachment signed on March 9, 2015 and Ekiti people are asking; was the motion for impeachment moved and adopted in Lagos or Osun State House of Assembly?
“Is impeachment of a governor done along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway inside a moving bus?
“Rather than going about advertising their ignorance and crudity, the APC lawmakers should wait for the court to adjudicate on the case they filed because even the President-Elect, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) will respect the rule of law when he assumes office.”
Governor Martins Elechi of Ebonyi State on Wednesday said those sponsoring the plot to remove him from office have not reneged.
Elechi stated this while addressing youths who paid him a solidarity visit at the State Government House.
The governor told the youth that the political crisis in the state began after the Peoples Democratic Party primaries last November, which he said was faulty leading to the divisions in the party and emergence of unknown party – Labour Party.
He alleged that those who burnt the state House of Assembly did so to cover their illicit deeds, “and then turned round to point accusing fingers to others.”
Elechi, however, said he was not afraid of those plotting his removal, as he was only answerable to Ebonyi people.
He said, “If I misbehave, I should be answerable, but not when people see a political goal and the only way to achieve that political goal is to remove me. They decide to remove me before they look for reasons to adduce to convince the public that I should be removed.
“The impeachment battle is still raging and I know the feelings of Ebonyi people. If not that we appealed to them to douse the tension, Ebonyi State would have been on fire by now.”
Elechi also said that those plotting to remove him from office were panicking and doing all sorts of things to arrest events in the state. “But that is possible and we remain unstoppable because it is the will of the people that is manifesting,” he added.
Meanwhile, the youth called on the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Chukwuma Nwazunku, to apologise to Ebonyi indigenes for inciting other lawmakers in the impeachment plot against Elechi.
“If he failed to apolgise to Ebonyi people for instigating the impeachment plot in the House, then we would have no option but to ensure he is punished adequately,” the National President of Nigeria Youth Organisation, Okorie Okorie, said.
ABAKALIKI- EBONYI state House of Assembly Friday morning served an impeachment notice on Governor Martin Elechi over what it described as act of gross misconduct by the Governor.
Reading the notice at the plenary, the acting leader of the House, Hon. Francis Nwifruru accused the Governor of huge financial misappropriation, undermining of the integrity of the House, among other offences.
The motion for him to be served the notice was moved by Hon. Odefa Obasi Odefa and seconded by Hon. Valentine Okike
In this interview with GEORGE AGBA, special adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on media and publicity, Dr Reuben Abati, defends his boss on the plethora of allegations levelled against his government. Insisting that the President has not committed any impeachable offence, the presidential spokesman argues strongly that while blackmail is the reason why the issue of corruption is being played up against the current administration, those accusing the Jonathan government of corruption are the ones who are most corrupt
Dr Reuben Abati
The opposition has kept insisting that the Presidency was behind the recent incident in which the Speaker of the House of Representatives and some lawmakers were locked out of the National Assembly. Would the police have embarked on such a mission without orders from above?
The police is an institution; it is a constitutional body. Its functions are properly spelt out in the Police Act and the Constitution. The police have the responsibility to maintain law and order. If in every instance when the police have intelligence reports or where they see the need to perform their constitutional duties, they would still have to get clearance from the President, then there will be chaos in society. I would have thought that the idea of having institutions is that such institutions should be strong enough to discharge their constitutional responsibilities whenever the occasion arises.
The President had no hand in that incident, and the police themselves have said so. According to the police, they got intelligence reports that some hoodlums were trying to overwhelm the National Assembly and you need to understand the context in which that occurred. If the police whose responsibility it is to maintain law and order have that kind of information, they don’t need to go and take directive from the President, even if in this instance what was involved was the legislative assembly. In fact, the situation called for even greater urgency and prompt action. Legislators are very important Nigerians.
So, the police said they acted on the basis of the information that they had to prevent thugs from overwhelming the National Assembly. They have also said that given the fallout from that action that they took, which was meant to be preemptive, they are still going to investigate to find out exactly what happened and that at the end of the investigation they will make their findings known to all Nigerians. I think that is where we are at this moment on that matter and I think it is most unfair to continue to drag the name of the President into everything. Even if the President of a country as big as this wants to, there is no way he can micro manage every little thing.
There are institutions that have been established to function under the law, but because politicians are involved, it is very convenient, and this is election time, to try to drag President Jonathan’s name into everything that mischief-makers can dredge up.
The resultant effect from this incident is that the House is now divided, with the opposition lawmakers angling for the impeachment of the President and those of the ruling party opposing the move. Don’t you think it is a bad omen for the Jonathan presidency?
This is not the first time that the House of Representatives would threaten to impeach a sitting president. I think they issued a similar threat under former President Obasanjo. But I don’t think that anybody will impeach this President, because this is a President that has not committed any wrong. He is a President who has served this country diligently. For the opposition politicians, Nigerians can see through their antics, because the people who are calling for the President’s impeachment are members of the opposition, the All Progressives Congress (APC); the same people who are threatening that if the President wins in 2015, they will form a parallel government and make Nigeria ungovernable.
The 2015 elections have not even taken place. The President is still an aspirant; he has not been officially declared a candidate. He has just been screened by his party and given a certificate of clearance, but already it looks like the APC has accepted defeat. They are already speaking like losers, bad losers, in an election that has not taken place yet; that will still take place in February. Perhaps all this is consistent with their rhetoric of saying they will make Nigeria ungovernable, they will form a parallel government, they will cause commotion. So, their threat of impeachment is part of it and I think that Nigerians should appeal to them to allow democracy to take its course, to allow the Nigerian democracy we are trying to consolidate to flourish.
Threatening fire and brimstone, and mayhem, all of that is bad sportsmanship, totally unpatriotic in my view, and it is selfish. Even from the rhetoric, either on the platform of the legislature or in other circumstances, there is so much threat. They are heating up the polity. If they want power, the best place to go is the ballot; it is not through threat of impeachment or making Nigeria ungovernable, and as I said earlier, Nigerians can see through their antics. We should appeal to them to allow the people of Nigeria to freely express their will through the ballot box and they must not do anything for any reason whatsoever to hijack the will of the people through the back door.
Governor Amaechi, who actually made that statement of forming a parallel government, had been consistent in criticising the President and the federal government. That he seems to get away with the weighty allegations he keeps making gives credibility to whatever he says. Any plans to get him to prove the allegations he has made so far?
You know that as a sitting governor, he enjoys immunity from criminal prosecution, and I guess, in his own case, he interprets that immunity to mean a licence to be utterly disagreeable whenever he chooses to be. It is really pitiable that a man like Governor Amaechi is almost descending to the level of the ridiculous with the accustomed manner in which he spews sound with no sense. At nearly every event these days, including the ones organised by him at public expense, and even when the event has nothing to do with President Jonathan, he will find a way of accusing President Jonathan of doing nothing for Rivers State, whereas that is not true. When that is not the issue, he would whine childishly about Soku oil wells. Or he will invite his audience to make sure that they don’t vote for President Jonathan in 2015.
In fact, in one recent incident, he was said to have been addressing a group of students and he told them that in 2015 they must vote out President Jonathan and the student responded in unison, “no”. He lost his audience. He was booed. It is instructive that the more he tries to condemn President Jonathan, the more he finds that nobody is willing to listen to him. He doesn’t have an audience because the people know that his baseless allegations against President Jonathan make no sense
We will like to encourage Governor Amaechi in the few months that remain out of his tenure in Rivers State, to concentrate on governing and serving the people of Rivers State, rather than going about launching what looks like a full-time obsessive maniacal campaign against the person and office of President Jonathan. And of course, he must realise that we are living under the rule of law. Those who invite the storm over the heads of other people oftentimes fail to realise that when that storm descends, it may descend first on their own heads.
Soon after the President’s declaration, the opposition alleged that it was insensitive for him to have proceeded with his declaration barely 24 hours after over 40 school children were butchered by Boko Haram sect in Potiskum, Yobe State. Doesn’t this sound like President Jonathan is a leader who lacks empathy for the plight of his people?
On that, I granted an interview in which I accused the APC of sheer hypocrisy, because a day after the President’s declaration at the Eagle Square, they themselves had one elaborate event in Edo State. So, why didn’t they postpone their event? Why didn’t they even remember the children that were said to have been killed at their event? So, you are dealing with people who are duplicitous, people who go by double standards; they talk from both ends of their mouth. Whatever they do, no matter how questionable, is supposed to be accepted by others, and when another man does anything at all, especially if it is President Jonathan, they try to pull him down, and of course, I accuse them frontally of jealousy, hypocrisy and unproductive pull-him-down politics
They saw that the declaration by the President was a very successful event supported by Nigerians across all facets of society. Even in the United Kingdom, in the US and everywhere in diaspora, Nigerians celebrated President Jonathan’s declaration for a second term in office, which for them (opposition) cannot be good news because they could see with their own eyes very clearly, they could hear very clearly too that President Jonathan is the man, he is the leader that Nigerians prefer.
The truth is that President Jonathan is fully committed to bringing the nightmare of terrorism in our country to an end. Anyone who tells you that he is not, is just being unkind for their own selfish reasons. No President will want to preside over any form of insecurity, because without peace, security and stability, it will be difficult to achieve the objectives of national growth and development across board.
The aggression, especially after the failed botched negotiation with the Boko Haram insurgents had been one of the greatest reasons for attack on the President. Is there any hope of a total repel of the miscreants in the territories they now occupy?
The war against terror is a war that this administration is determined to win no matter how long it takes, no matter what it requires. President Jonathan has been very unequivocal in making it clear that under his watch terrorists will not take over Nigeria. In what appears to be a resurgence of terrorist activities, there have been quite a number of unfortunate incidents in the North-Eastern part of the country but the government is acquiring new arms and ammunitions, soldiers are being retrained, more effort is being put into the cooperation with our neighboring countries.
But of course if you look at the history of terror in different parts of the world, in Colombia, in Afghanistan, terror is a major threat to the whole of humanity because it is a cancerous kind of evil which even when you think it is gone, it suddenly resurfaces. But in this particular case, government is adopting every strategy to ensure that it wins the war against these evil-minded persons and that at the same time it safeguards the lives of people and their property.
Aside terrorism, there are communal clashes like the recent one in Nasarawa State. Each time the clashes happen, the state governors keep saying they are helpless in quelling communal aggression and clashes. They keep insisting that it is only an assignment for the President and the federal government. What exactly does the constitution say about this and has the President been able to handle this in the face of rising socio-political clashes in Nigeria?
The responsibility for ensuring peace and stability is not that of the President alone. It is that of all Nigerians, and the governors in whatever state they may be cannot say that it is not their business. What you are trying to suggest is that a sitting governor can legitimately say that the welfare of the people under him and their security is not his business. And for any governor to say that at all is irresponsible because state Governors owe the people they serve a duty of care.
Take for instance, the Safe Schools Initiative that has been introduced by President Jonathan which involves physically securing schools and ensuring that schools without gates and fences, are properly fenced and all that.
Are you saying that a state governor who knows that the state governments are equally responsible for secondary school education can legitimately say that it is not his business to provide security in schools? Some of these communal clashes that you talked about are usually as a result of disagreements between two communities or two sects or two ethnic groups and at the state level. These are grassroots issues. Can a Governor say it is the primary responsibility of the President to resolve communal clashes or to provide an enabling environment for inter-ethnic and religious harmony? I don’t think that any responsible Governor would say that. Even in terms of security, it should not be taken in the literal sense of soldiers and the police securing a particular environment.
Security if taken in an expanded view involves economic security. Is it not also the duty of Governors to ensure the welfare and prosperity of the people? In fact, when you say this and that is the responsibility of the President alone, you clearly want to turn Nigeria into a one-man state where one man is responsible for everything. We are not running a one-man system. That is why President Jonathan at every occasion has always talked about unity of purpose, about solidarity of action and that is why we have a National Council of state where governors and the President sit together and take a decision on major issues.
And that is why President Jonathan has said the kind of solidarity that was demonstrated in eliminating Ebola is the kind of unity of purpose, solidarity of action he would like to see in other aspects of national life, security inclusive. So, it would be wrong to say it is the President alone who is responsible for all the security. These days when people even dream and wake up in the morning after a bad dream, they will say oh, President Jonathan should do something about people having bad dreams. That is how ridiculous it is, the president gets blamed for everything, and if Governors begin to sound like that then it means that we really have a serious situation on our hands which amounts to abdication of responsibility on the part of whichever Governor is talking like that.
PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday told senators behind the Jonathan-Must-Go impeachment project that there were issues of national importance that needed their attention rather than the plot against him.
President Jonathan
Jonathan’s advice was contained in a reaction by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, who fired back at the senators said to be compiling signatures and impeachable offences against the President.
“It is our view that there are at present, serious fundamental issues of national importance such as winning the war against terrorism and stabilising the economy in the face of dwindling oil revenue which require the full attention, commitment and swift action of distinguished members of the Senate,” Okupe said.
Arrowheads of the impeachment plot against Jonathan in the Senate on Tuesday told journalists in Abuja that 65 senators had already signed to remove the President and that they would formally present a request to commence the impeachment proceedings on December 16.
The senators said they would have tabled their request this week but for the adjournment in the Senate. The upper federal legislative chamber had suspended plenary till December 16 for members to participate in the ongoing primaries of the parties.
Okupe’s full statement read, “The Senate in the last four years has conducted its legislative functions and responded to issues that are of great national importance with commendable political sagacity.
“In this same period, the Senate has functioned as a stabilising force within the polity employing much political maturity that is required to guide and protect our nascent democracy.
“However, confrontation and strong disagreements are not uncommon phenomenon in Executive-Legislative relationship world-wide.
“The recent purported attempt by some senators to prepare impeachable offences against the President, as reported in some section of the media, is seen by us in this light.
“We strongly trust and believe in the leadership of the present Senate and the unwavering patriotism and commitment that have been shown by the distinguished members and we trust that ultimately it is this tendency towards true nationalism that will prevail in the Senate.
“It is our view that there are at present, serious fundamental issues of national importance such as winning the war against terrorism and stabilising the economy in the face of dwindling oil revenue which require the full attention, commitment and swift action of distinguished members of the Senate.
“We are of the opinion that all matters political can and will be resolved politically in the overall interest of our democracy and the wellbeing of our people.”
One of the arrowheads of the impeachment move in the Senate, Senator Alkali Jajere, had told journalists on Tuesday that there was no going back on the project.
He had said, “As of today, the required signatures to initiate the impeachment process had been obtained. The Senate has adjourned to December 16, so by that date the impeachment motion will be presented on the floor of the Senate.
“As of last week, 63 of us had signed up for the impeachment; my signature was the fourth but I can confirm to you that we have 63 signatures but after the session today two people had called and told me that they want to sign.
“One of them is an All Progressives Congress senator who was away doing campaign because he is contesting the governorship election of his state. The other person is a Peoples Democratic Party senator.
“Before the end of today I can assure you that the list will swell up to 70. It is on the impeachment day that we need two-thirds of the members to carry out the exercise but we need only one-third, which we already have, to initiate the process. It is just a matter of one day sitting. We will just push it before the two chambers.”
Jajere said he signed the impeachment motion because of his conviction that there were impeachable offences against Jonathan and that the process had been started early in the year but was truncated.
ABUJA-MINORITY Leader of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila yesterday said the All Progressives Congress, APC will soon make available the authentic list of those who endorsed the impeachment notice against, President Goodluck Jonathan.
APC data Centre
In a three paragraph statement, the minority leader asked the general public to discountenace the fake list being circulated in Abuja.
The statement read in part said”the general public is hereby advised to disregard a fake impeachment list published by some online publicists for obvious sinister intentions”.
“None of our APC members in the House of Representatives is party to the fake impeachment list”
“The authentic impeachment list would be published in due course and we urge our constituents across the country to be so guided.
Meanwhile, PDP lawmakers that spoke to Vnguard roundly condemned the action as their names were displayed in the alleged impeachment notice.
Majority Deputy Leader, Rep Leo Ogor, PDP, Delta described the list as another scam of the APC.
Ogor said””that is another APC scam designed to frustrate us but it won’t fly because as a South South leader in the House it is virtually impossible for me to append my signature on such a notice”.
“If they are bold enough let them officially publish such a list and you will hear the public outcry immediately that is done”.
“Please ignore that scam of a list it is just a figment of their imagination as they do not have more ideas to use to deceive Nigerians”.
Also last Friday Rep Tajudeen Yusuf, PDP, Kogi vehemently denied ever signing such an impeachment notice.
APC Lawmaker jumping the fence
The lawmaker equally challenged the promoters of the impeachment move on the President to publish the names and signatures of those who are behind the alleged impeachment of the President.
The lawmaker in a statement issued in Abuja against the backdrop of “fictitious” names published by the promoters of the impeachment plot maintained that, he has remained a loyalist of his party, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and core supporter of President Jonathan in the House.
According to him, I have never, at anytime, and will never sit, join, participate in any meeting to discuss any move that will work against President Goodluck Jonathan’s lofty transformation agenda, his government or Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
“It is ridiculous and evil for APC in its unfortunate propaganda insert names of PDP members in their ungodly and inept antics to cause crisis in the polity. The APC should not delude itself by ascribing to themselves what they don’t have.
“As at the moment just like in the past, since the inauguration of the Seventh Assembly, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP remains the majority in the House and at no time did PDP lose majority in the House.
“On this note, APC do not and cannot have the number to threaten President Goodluck Jonathan with any impeachment move. Enough of this charade and mis-information”, the lawmaker stated.
Also, House committee chairman on Interparliamentary Relations, Rep Daniel Reyenieju, PDP, Delta, when contacted simply said”I’m not aware of such a list how could I have signed and it is strange to me”.
Speaking almost in the same vein, Deputy Chairman House committee on Commercialisation and Privatisation, Rep Uzoma Nkem-Abonta, PDP, Abia said” I’m not aware of such a notice talkless of signing it”.
“It is a mere speculation that should not be taken sesiously by any serious minded Nigerian”.
“I challenge them to make such a list public and what in the first place makes them feel Mr President can be impeached”.
“Those of us in the PDP should remain focused and should ensure we are not distracted in anyway”.
Vanguard recalls that on November 20, lawmakers that reconvened to discuss the extension of Emergency Rule in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe were barricaded from entering the complex.
On that same day, more than 120 lawmakers allegedly signed an impeachment register on the floor of the House designed to serve as a notice for president Jonathan to leave office.
Contrary to reports that 63 senators have signed up for the impeachment of President Goodluck Jonathan, THISDAY investigation revealed monday that no formal decision has been taken by any party caucus in the Senate.
Senate
A caucus meeting of the All Progressives Congress (APC) senators scheduled for 5pm monday, where the decision on whether to initiate an impeachment move against the president or not would have been taken, was later cancelled.
It was learnt that the meeting was cancelled due to the preparation for primaries by the senators.
One of the senators, who arrived Abuja for the meeting yesterday, told THISDAY that he was not informed before his arrival that the meeting had been cancelled. No new date has been scheduled for the meeting.
While THISDAY spoke with a number of senators from different political parties on the matter, it was learnt that although very few senators had indeed muted the idea, opening and signing of any register on the matter have formally not started.
Even APC senators who were reported to have been at the forefront of the alleged impeachment move have never held any meeting on it. A prominent APC senator told THISDAY on the telephone that even though he had heard of such intention, it is not true that collation of signatures had started.
The senator, who did not want to be named, however, told THISDAY ahead of yesterday’s cancelled meeting that the forum was designed for a decision on any possible impeachment move.
“Honestly, I heard of the plan. A colleague called me and said they wanted to start but it has not started yet. We want to have our caucus meeting on Monday at 5pm where we will discuss it,” he said.
In the same vein, another opposition senator told THISDAY that although he heard of the intention, nobody had personally approached him about it neither was he ready to be part of it. Another opposition senator said he only had “the feeling” that there could be something like that but he had not been around because he had been busy with his campaigns.
Asked if he would be part of it if indeed there is such a plan, he said: “I don’t have anything to do with them.” Asked why he would not be part of such plan as an opposition senator, he said: “I don’t know.”
But another APC senator said if the plan was eventually hatched, he would eagerly be part of it because he was unhappy with the president over the decision of the men of the Nigeria police to fire tear gas canisters in the National Assembly on November 20.
“Attack on the parliament is a treasonable felony. You don’t tear gas the parliament,” he said.
The above submissions were also in tandem with what an APC senator, Ibrahim Musa (Niger North), who was quoted in one of the earlier reports on impeachment had said.
The senator was quoted to have said he only heard of the move but it had remained only as a rumour. Musa was quoted as saying “I think there’s something like that but I don’t have details. It is still coming as a rumour.”
Also, a media aide to another APC senator who could not be reached yesterday said his principal was not part of it. He added however that the senator would only feel obliged to support it if it becomes the resolution of the APC caucus.
He also said some APC senators he had asked about it had denied knowledge of any register.
But Chairman, House Committee on Finance, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, told THISDAY via the telephone on Friday that he was not aware of the existence of an impeachment move in the Senate.
The former governor, who said he would not hold any brief for those who have been chunking out the rumour, added that he was sure that such plan did not exist in the Senate at the moment.
Also speaking, Chairman, Senate Committee on Rules and Business, Senator Ita Enang, dismissed outright the existence of such move.
According to him, what senators are concerned with at the moment is how to resolve the various problems confronting the country such as security crisis, economic problems and reconciliation among party members in the build-up to the 2015 polls.
Furthermore, he said some individuals within the Senate were deliberately selling the story to newspapers with the intention to blackmail the president and secure media attention.
However, a source told THISDAY that the kite might have been flown by an insignificant number of some Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senators who have lost out in the current political scheming and therefore opted to resort to blackmail with a view to forcing Jonathan to guarantee their restoration.
THISDAY learnt that it is these aggrieved senators that are selling the idea to their APC counterparts because they felt the idea would easily find expression through the opposition.
However, THISDAY checks revealed that it would be a herculean task to push the idea through as APC caucus in the Senate as currently constituted has only 38 members following the recent defection of six senators from the party in Ogun, Oyo and Edo States to PDP.
Upon the defection of 11 senators from PDP to APC on January 29, this year, APC’s ranks in the Senate swelled. Yet PDP still retained its majority in the upper chamber.
The configuration of the Senate at the time was altered to PDP – 61, APC 44; Labour Party (LP) – three and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) – one. But the defection of six senators from APC in recent times brought the number of APC senators down to 38 while the number of PDP senators have risen from 61 to 67.
Although the three LP senators in the Senate have not officially written the Senate President David Mark on their defection to PDP, they have been identifying with PDP in their respective states. For instance, Senators Boluwaji Kunlere and Ayo Akinyelure have followed Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko to PDP while Senator Joshua Dariye who was elected into the Senate on the platform of LP in Plateau State has also announced his intention to return to PDP.
Other senators who have defected from APC to PDP are Ayo Adeseun (Oyo Central) and Ehigie Uzamere (Edo South), while Chris Anyanwu formerly of APGA has also joined PDP. On the other hand, while three other APC senators from Ogun State, Adegbenga Kaka (Ogun East), Olugbenga Obadara (Ogun Central) and Akin Odunsi (Ogun West) had left the party for SDP, another senator, Femi Lanlehin (Oyo South), left APC for Accord Party.
Therefore, the current configuration of the Senate is PDP – 67; APC – 38; SDP -3 and Accord -one.
Given the above configuration, it may amount to an uphill task for the APC senators to push through an impeachment agenda.
But with the rumour that eight PDP senators had been enlisted for the task, the number can only rise to 46 which is far below the two-thirds of 75 senators required to initiate impeachment proceedings against the president.
The 63 senators who had signed up to remove President Goodluck Jonathan will meet on Monday (today) evening to perfect their strategy for making it a reality.
Senate
One of the coordinators of the impeachment plan,who made this known to our correspondent in Abuja on Sunday, said the agenda of the meeting would centre on how to handle the case on the floor of the Senate.
But the senator, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, did not disclose the venue of the meeting for security reasons.
He said, “All of us will meet tomorrow (Monday) evening to discuss when we are going to move the motion on the floor of the Senate. We have an appreciable number already and I believe that more people will join when they see the seriousness with which we are going about it.
“Some of our colleagues were saying that we don’t have the will to move it (impeachment motion) on the floor. We will soon execute our plans because it is in the best interest of all Nigerians”
Already, the senator representing Yobe South Senatorial District in the upper chamber, Alkali Jajere, and his colleague from Niger North, Ibrahim Musa, have explained their involvement in the planned impeachment moves.
The two senators, in separate interviews on Sunday, said they signed up for the impeachment because of their conviction that Jonathan had engaged in a series of constitutional breaches.
Jajere alleged that the poor handling of the insurgency in the North-East by the Jonathan administration despite huge sums of money being voted for the military, was deliberate.
He said, “Are we going to wait and continue to tolerate a leader who, cannot stop the daily physical and psychological torture of people in the North-East. The insurgency in the zone is threatening the corporate existence of Nigeria and the earlier we act, the better.’’
Also, Musa alleged that Jonathan government’s “insincerity” in tackling the economic crisis facing the country was enough grounds to initiate an impeachment move against him.
He said, “The President has been breaching the constitution over the years and we have tolerated it enough. This government has not been implementing the budget and that is why we are having problems with our economy.”
One of the arrowheads of the move to remove Jonathan, on Thursday, showed our correspondent the list containing the signatures of 63 senators.
The source said eight Peoples Democratic Party senators were among the signatories to the planned impeachment notice. There are 109 lawmakers in the Senate.
An All Progressives Congress senator from the North-West, who asked not to be named, told our correspondent that the lawmakers’ major grouse against the President was the manner he had been handling the economic and political affairs of the country.
The senator cited poor implementation of the national budget since 2011, alleged high level of corruption and “gross disregard” for the legislature at both the federal and state levels as some of the reasons they were angry with Jonathan.
Some prominent lawyers in the country and civil society group, the National Democratic Front (NDF) last night expressed divergent views over the planned impeachment of President Goodluck Jonathan by some House of Representatives members.
Jonathan
Already, some members of the House have started collating signatures to commence impeachment procedure against the President over the incident at the National Assembly last Thursday.
A senior advocate, Mr. Ahmed Raji, who spoke with our correspondent in Abuja, said the Honourable members in the House alone cannot impeach President Jonathan.
According to him, the Senate must also agree to commence impeachment proceedings.
“When talking about impeachment, there is a committee that should be set up by the Chief Justice of Nigeria to determine some of the allegations against the President. The House alone cannot impeach him, the Senate too must agree before any impeachment must take place.
On the call for the resignation of the Inspector-General of Police, Suleiman Abba over the incident, the senior advocate and a solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria said the IGP should be given an audience before we jump into conclusion.
“I don’t agree that the IGP should resign for what his men allegedly did at the National Assembly. We should listen to him before we blame anybody. We should not jump into conclusion on this matter. We should find out why the officers of the IGP did what they have done before shifting blame,” Raji said.
Another senior advocate, Chief Adeniyi Akintola put the blame on the doorstep of the IGP. He told the Reps members to call for the resignation of the IGP and urged politicians in the country to be careful not to put the country’s democracy on the line.
He said, “what I expect the House to do is to call for his resignation. Politicians in the country should be careful not to put our democracy on the line. I will also blame the council of state for rushing to confirm his (IGP) appointment. A more matured person should have been made the IGP”.
In his own view, Chief Awa Kalu, SAN, said what members of the NASS are playing is politics which would be resolved politically.
“If they are planning impeachment, they know what to do. What is going on now is politics which will dissolve politically,” he said.
All is still not well between Governor Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa State and majority of the members of the state House of Assembly, despite escaping the first round of impeachment two weeks ago.
Tanko Al-Makura, Nasarawa State Governor
The aggrieved lawmakers, who are unhappy that the governor was cleared of all the allegations they levelled against him, hatched a fresh plot at the weekend at a secret location in Lafia, the state capital to push out the governor within a week.
Under the plot, which has now received the blessing of the PDP top hierarchy in the country, Al-Makura is to be probed by another panel to be hurriedly raised by a vacation judge in the state and made up mostly elements to be selected by the lawmakers.
To pave the way for the raising of another panel to tackle the governor, the lawmakers are planning an emergency session on Monday during which they would pass a vote of no confidence on the State Chief Judge, Justice Suleiman Dikko and suspend him from office.
While on suspension, the lawmakers would empower the vacation judge in the state to constitute a ‘friendly’ panel to take a fresh look at the allegations of gross misconduct and indict the governor within the first day of sitting.
Based on the report, the legislators are to remove the governor the following day and swear in his deputy, Dameshi Barau Luka.
A top source close to the lawmakers told Vanguard last night that they were set to reconvene early this week and pass a resolution directing the Vacation Judge in the state, Justice Rose Soji, to raise a fresh panel to probe allegations of gross misconduct against Al-Makura.
The source explained that the legislators were determined to take any step possible to ensure that the governor was removed within a week from the date of the setting up of the new panel.
The official explained that the lawmakers opted to take fresh steps to sack the governor since the Chief Judge had violated the law by putting pro-Al-Makura members in the panel that eventually cleared the governor.
The source said: “What the lawmakers are going to do this time around is to ensure that the governor is removed within days by the anti-Al-Makura panel they plan to raise on Monday or Tuesday this week before the CJ, Justice Suleiman Dikko, who they don’t trust returns from vacation next month.
A top government official privy to the plot said that the lawmakers are angry with the governor for various reasons chief among them being that he refused to dump the APC for PDP after being assisted to win the election petition case in 2012.
The governor is also said to be in the lawmakers’ bad books for reporting them to the EFCC that they pocketed billions of state funds under the guise of executing non-existing constituency projects.
Sunday Onyebuchi, Deputy Governor of Enugu State, collapsed Wednesday morning, three hours into testimony in front of an investigate panel looking into accusations of misconduct and abuse of office against him.
Rushed to the hospital, the deputy governor’s suspicious collapse prompted the panel to suspend proceedings until 2pm.
The Enugu State Government on Thursday presented three witnesses before the seven-man panel investigating allegations of gross misconduct against Deputy Governor of the state, Mr Sunday Onyebuchi.
Enugu Deputy Governor, Sunday Onyebuchi
The witnesses were the Commissioner for Lands, Dr Chukwuemeka Ujam, the Clerk of the house of assembly, Mr Chris Chukwura and the Medical Director of the Government House Clinic, Dr Anthony Ogbonna.
They were led in evidence by the Director of Civil Litigations in the Enugu State Ministry of Justice, Mr Innocent Eze.
Speaking to journalists after the sitting, Onyebuchi said his priority was for citizens to realise the truth in the case.
The deputy governor said he was not afraid of being removed from office, adding that Nigeria’s democracy was under trial in the state.
“It is true that I am the one standing trial but I want to say also that our democracy is also standing trial.
“I believe that no matter how we want to manipulate the truth or embellish it, it will triumph over falsehood,” Onyebuchi said.
On the poultry which he allegedly ran in the Government House, he said the birds were taken away on Jan 27 without a clue to their whereabouts.
Onyebuchi said, “I do not know what happened to the birds up till now, whether they were sold or eaten; I never complained, rather the person who took my birds is the one complaining.
“I believe that I have not committed any crime. I am just here to protect my hard earned reputation because it is more important to me than even the office of the deputy governor.
“There is a panel of man, there is a court of man, but more importantly, there is a court of God where nobody can manipulate the truth. He will also give His verdict at the appropriate time.”
Meanwhile, it took the arguments of the deputy governor’s lead counsel, Mr Chris Aghanwa, to allow the media to cover the panel’s proceedings.
The Chairman of the panel, Mr Franklin Oraekeyi, had earlier banned the media from covering its proceedings, arguing that the panel was not out for a public sitting.
The panel set up to investigate the 16 allegations of gross misconduct leveled against Governor Tanko Al-Makura by the Nasarawa State House of Assembly on Tuesday dismissed the allegations for want of evidence.
Nasarawa State Governor, Tanko Al-Makura
The Chairman of the panel, Yusuf Usman, during the proceeding of the panel in Lafia, said the Assembly failed to appear before it to prove its allegations.
He said the panel, therefore, had no choice than to dismiss the allegations.
Usman said the panel had, at the Monday sitting, given a grace of 24 hours to the House of Assembly to appear before it and substantiate its case.
He also drew attention to the appearance of counsel for the Assembly, led by Mr. Ocha Ulegede, on Tuesday.
He said during the counsel’s appearance, it faulted the sitting of the panel on composition grounds.
Usman, therefore, said the refusal of the Assembly to participate in the proceedings implied that it had failed to tender evidence to prove its case.
He said, “The rule of natural justice and our criminal laws put the onus of proof on the complainant, and failure of which the accused is deemed innocent.
“The House has failed to advance evidence on the 16 allegations. The panel agrees with the prayer of the counsel for the governor.
“It has no option than to dismiss each and every of the charges against the governor.”
He said the panel, in compliance with section 188, sub section 8 of the Constitution, would transmit its decision to the state House of Assembly.
Earlier, Ulegede had told the panel that he was appearing before the panel in protest.
He argued that the state Chief Judge, Justice Suleiman Dikko, failed to comply with the provision of section 188 (5) of the 1999 Constitution as amended in raising the panel.
Ulegede alleged that two members of the panel were card carrying members of the Peoples Democratic Party while another is a public servant.
He contended that this contravened the constitutional provision on the subject matter.
He also said the guidelines used by the panel were wrong as the constitution provided that the rules of proceeding should come from the Assembly.
“The panel has no power to have sat and even set rules.
“Its action was in breach of the constitution and panel should be disbanded on the ground of morality,” he said.
He contended that members of the Assembly would not participate in the panel’s proceedings until the constitutional breaches were addressed.
Reacting to Ulegede’s position, Usman said the panel had no power to take decision on the issues raised by Ulegede, pointing out that such decisions could only be handled by the court.
Counsel for Al-Makura, Chief Nnoruka Udechukwu, had prayed the panel to dismiss the allegations on the notice of impeachment in compliance with section 7 (c) of the panel guidelines.
Udechukwu noted that there was no proof and acknowledgement of service of the hearing notice on his client.
He, however, said the refusal by the Assembly to participate in the proceeding implied the abandonment of the allegation.
The Nasarawa State House of Assembly has sent a petition against Governor Tanko Al-Makura to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Nasarawa State Governor, Tanko Al-Makura
The Chairman of the assembly’s Committee on Information and Security, Mr. Baba Ibaku, told one of our correspondents on Sunday, that Al-Makura would face the EFCC after his impeachment.
“We have petitioned the EFCC and after our impeachment process, the governor will know how to defend himself,” he said.
Ibaku was reacting to an allegation by the All Progressives Congress’ Chairman in the state, Mr. Philip Shekwo, that the assembly members pocketed N7.78bn constituency allowance given to them by the state government in three years.”
He said, “The APC chairman does not have the moral right to ask us what we received either monthly or quarterly. It is only the people that voted us into office that have the mandate to do so.
“He (Shekwo) is not a member of our party and we are not members of his party. They (APC) are the people to tell us how much Al-Makura has collected in the last three years from the federation account and how much he has spent on projects.”
The lawmaker, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues, said the governor would explain to the EFCC how he spent the state’s allocations.
But he neither said when the petition was written nor gave detailed information on its content.
On the alleged misuse of constituency allowances given to the lawmakers, he said they were ready to defend themselves if invited by the EFCC.
When our correspondent contacted the EFCC Head of Media and Publicity , Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, he said that the lawmakers’ petition had not been brought to his attention.
“Even if they have written a petition to the commission, I am not yet aware of it,” he added.
Also, Al-Makura’s Director of Press, Iliyasu Yakubu, said he was not mandated to speak on the petition by the assembly members.
Meanwhile, the national leadership of the PDP has advised Al-Makura to face his problems, instead of engaging in what it called APC’s “out-worn antics of blaming the Presidency and the PDP for their self-inflicted woes.”
The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, in a statement on Sunday, said the governor should look inward and find answers to his challenges as the chief executive of his state.
It said the idea of promoting trite excuses of external influence , sponsoring protests as well as threatening and unleashing thugs on the state legislators would not solve his problem.
Restating that it has no hands in the state’s political development, the PDP said the impeachment move against Al-Makura remained a local issue in the state.
He added that the provisions of the 1999 Constitution were very clear on such processes.
The PDP said, “Nigerians may recall that at the wake of the impeachment move in Narasawa State that we came out clearly to restate our non-involvement in the saga and went ahead to charge our lawmakers across the country to ensure that their actions were strictly guided by the provisions of the law.
“We have also challenged the governor and the APC to provide evidence of the alleged involvement of the Presidency or the PDP in the crisis.
“However, we are shocked that instead of focusing on finding answers to his problems which must be connected with the bad governance that has characterised APC-led administrations in the country, the Nasarawa State governor declared war on the lawmakers, while unleashing APC thugs on them and stopping them from carrying out their constitutional duties.”
The party said it was astonished with the “series of unfounded allegations, insults, blackmails and threats sponsored against the Presidency and the PDP.” which are aimed at subverting constitutional provisions.
As the wind of impeachment continues to blow across states of the federation, the Abia State House of Assembly has totally disassociated itself from the rumoured impeachment plot against Gov. Theodore Orji, describing the speculation making waves in parts of the state as baseless and unfounded.
Abia state govenor
Deputy Speaker and House Committee Chairman on Information, Hon. Alwell Asiforo Okere, who made the clarifications Weekend in Umuahia, said the rumour did not emanate from the House.
Okere said the House maintained the best of relationships with the governor, hence, ” the issue of impeachment is unimaginable.”
He attributed the rumour to government detractors and mischief makers whose intention, according to him, is to cause confusion in the state.
Briefing journalists on the activities of the lawmakers, Okere said the House had passed three important bills into law including the Abia State Physical Planning and Infrastructural amendment law, the Abia State Local Government Transition Law and the Local Government Council Appropriation Law.
He also said the House had passed six resolutions including expedition of work on the Amofufe Igbere in Bende LGA erosion site and the collapsed Igwu river bridge at Ndiebe Abam in Arochukwu LGA.
The rift between the Nasarawa State House of Assembly and the state Chief Judge, Justice Umaru Dikko, over the constitution of a panel to probe Governor Umaru Al-Makura has worsened. The lawmakers have insisted that the panel remains ‘dissolved.’
Nasarawa State Governor, Tanko Al-Makura
The Assembly on Friday, again, dismissed the seven-man panel set up by Justice Dikko, insisting that the panel does not exist, as far as it is concerned.
The lawmakers had asked the Chief Judge to constitute a panel to investigate allegations of wrongdoing against Al-Makura, as part of his impeachment process.
The Chairman of the House Committee on Information and Security, Mr. Baba Ibaku, had on Wednesday said the lawmakers resolved to demand the dissolution of the panel during their emergency sitting at the House of Assembly complex last Monday.
The spokesperson for the lawmakers argued that the fact that the panel members held political positions in the state was against the provision of Section 188 of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
Despite the lawmakers’ directive, the panel began its sitting on Thursday.
While speaking to SUNDAY PUNCH in an interview again on Friday, Ibaku insisted that the House had dissolved the panel. He said the lawmakers were still waiting for the CJ to re-constitute the investigative panel.
He said, “As far as the lawmakers are concerned, there is nothing like seven-man panel set up by the state Chief Judge, Justice Dikko, and we have since dissolved them, waiting for the CJ to re-constitute a new panel.”
In a related development, the outlawed Ombatse cult and Eggon youths, who have backed the move to impeach the governor, were said to be poised for a showdown over the burning of a lawmaker, Muhammad Muluku’s car by youths suspected to be APC members.
Ibaku, however, said he and other members of the Assembly had not been associating with the groups. He said the lawmakers did not employ anybody to work for them.
He stated that if the groups were threatening, they had their reasons.
Ibaku, who could not confirm when the lawmakers would reconvene, stated that the lawmakers would sit when there was the need for them to do so.
The lawmaker noted that members of the Assembly would only sit at the complex when they discovered that the state was peaceful and conducive to their sitting. He said it would be difficult for the lawmakers to sit in the complex with youths burning tyres along the roads.
“We decided to sit at the Karu Local Government Area of the state recently because there was no peace in the state. We were told that some youths suspected to be APC loyalists set one of our members’ car ablaze at the Akuruba area of the state,” Ibaku said.
The Assembly, which began the impeachment process against Al-Makura a few weeks ago, could not reach him (the governor) to serve him the impeachment notice. It later published the impeachment notice in some national newspapers.
In his reaction on Friday, the Director of Press to Al-Makura, Ali Yakubu, dismissed threats by the lawmakers as their opinion.
He stated that the issue (of panel dissolution) was a constitutional matter, adding that Section 188 empowered the Chief Judge to constitute the seven-man panel to investigate the governor.
“It is a constitutional matter which empowers the CJ to constitute the seven-man panel to investigate the governor,” Yakubu stated.
He further said the lawmakers had done their part and that Dikko had also done his part.
Yakubu urged the lawmakers to leave the Chief Judge to perform his function as stipulated in the 1999 Constitution.
Meanwhile, constitutional experts have said the legislature lacks the power to interfere with the constitution and activities of an investigative panel in an impeachment process.
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Tayo Oyetibo, told SUNDAY PUNCH that a House of Assembly could not appoint members of an impeachment panel and that only the Chief Judge reserved the right to do so.
He said, “With regard to the impeachment of a governor, you cannot act outside of the provisions of the Constitution. The power to appoint the panel is given to the Chief Judge. Each department has its own role.
“The role of the House of Assembly is the first stage of passing its resolution, mandating the Chief Judge to appoint panellists. And after the appointment, it is for the panel to look at the allegations and then the outcome of those allegations will go back to the House of Assembly. You can’t transgress your own limits.”
Oyetibo noted that the lawmakers had to wait for the panel to conclude its investigations, except there is “cogent and compelling evidence that they (members of the panel) are members of political parties.”
Similarly, Prof. Taiwo Osipitan, stated that the Nasarawa State House of Assembly had no right to interfere with the panel. He also said the Chief Judge alone had the powers with regard to the composition of an impeachment panel.
“The House of Assembly does not have powers to dissolve the panel. They have no role to play in the composition. There are checks and balances. Their own is to sign the impeachment notice and for the Chief Judge to constitute the panel.
“Whether they are happy or unhappy about it (the composition), is totally irrelevant. It is the chief judge’s panel,” Osipitan stated.
