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APC Set To Lose Another Governor To Impeachment




Another All Progressive Congress governor is set to lose his set as legislators in the Nasarawa State House of Assembly on Monday adopted alleged impeachment offences to be served on the state’s  Governor Tanko Al-Makura.
The development coincided with the submission of the report of the panel that investigated impeachment allegations against Adamawa State Governor, Murtala Nyako.
Both Al-Makura and Nyako belong to the opposition All Progressives Congress.
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.
What remained uncertain unlike the Adamawa impeachment move was if the Deputy Governor would be involved in the impeachment. If this does happen, then the PDP will be set to take control of yet another state from the APC whose ranks had been bolstered by the decamping of some governors from the PDP fold.
In Adamawa, however, the seven-man panel set up by the former acting Chief Judge of the state, Justice Ambrose Mamedi, to investigate the alleged gross misconduct levelled against Nyako and his Deputy, Mr. Bala Ngalari, submitted its report on Monday.
The report, in four volumes, has been forwarded by the panel chairman, Mallam Buba Kaigama to the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Ahmadu Fintiri.
While receiving the report, the Speaker congratulated members of the panel for being found worthy of handling such a sensitive assignment.
Fintiri said, “I assure you the committee members and the people of Adamawa State that the Assembly will consider the report meticulously at the plenary in due course before deciding on the next course of action.”
Earlier while presenting copies of the report to the House, Kaigama expressed gratitude to the lawmakers for the opportunity given to him and members of his panel to serve the state.
The panel chairman lamented that the respondents, namely Governor Murtala Nyako and his Deputy, Bala Ngilari, did not show up during the panel’s sitting; neither did they send representatives.
The outgone acting Chief Judge of the state had constituted the probe panel to investigate allegations of misconduct against the governor and his deputy based on a request by the House of Assembly.

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