IMPEACHMENT:AL MAKURA'S ASS ON FIRE
IN TINUBU'S ABSENCE
BY ABDULMUMINI ADEKU
The fate of Governor Umaru Al Makura of Nassarrawa State remains uncertain as at press time
For Governor Umaru Al Makura of Nassarawa
State in Nigeria , this are not happy times as the drums of war and possible
impeachment by the State House of Assembly in Lafia ,Central Nigeria continues
to get louder by the day.
In an exclusive investigations by
Paedia Express Multimedia in Lagos,Nigeria,it was discovered that the All
Progressive Congress National Leader,Ashiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu had been
pulling the strings for him to remain in office.
An impeccable source told this
reporter how the Chief Justice of Nassarrawa State,Justice Suleiman Dikko was
been silenced by Tinubu's largesse
The source speaks "He was asked
to name his price and given some thing in the region of what the Chief Justice
of Nigeria earns, he also got a certificate of occupancy"
"You know this was how the
crisis ended ,PDP controls the state legislature ,APC controls the Judge who
will have supervised the entire drama been caused by the Nassarawa state
legislature"
"This is what made the lawmakers
to change there minds at the last minute ,if only Nyako had done the same thing"
The source also disclosed that there
were APC implants who are handsomely paid to search for information from the
ruling PDP
MEMBERS of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly are dogged
in their pursuit of ensuring that Governor Tanko Almakura is impeached on
account of the 16-count allegations against him. Many observers including All
Progressives Congress (APC) supporters who thought that the impeachment saga
was over with the panel’s dismissal of all the charges and acquitted Almakura.
Not yet Uhuru
However, it is not yet Uhuru for the governor, his followers and APC
supporters who have been sending series of congratulatory messages on radio and
newspapers to Almakura on what they describe as ‘victory of the rule of law’.
The state lawmakers upon resumption of plenary on Monday declared clearly
that the matter is still on the front burner. The latest move started when the
Leader of the House, Hon. Godiya Akwashiki, representing Nasarawa Eggon North
Constituency, raised a motion on public hearing compelling the speaker to
kick-start the fresh motion on the impeachment.
Akwashiki said that the action and motive of the state Chief Judge, Justice
Suleiman Dikko in constituting a panel as directed by the assembly to
investigate the allegations against the governor contradicted Section 188 sub
section 5 of the 1999 Constitution.
Akwashiki alleged that justice Suleiman knowingly recruited some members of
the panel who are card- carrying members of a political party, and some office
holders who are relations of the accused. This, he stated, would make such
members to be partisan in dispensing justice and fair hearing would not be
accorded to the other party.
Lacuna and petition to NJC
Sighting a lacuna in the establishment of the panel, in view of Section 188,
the leader referred the House to part 1 of that schedule Section 7, column 20
of the 1999 of the constitution on the body responsible for the disciplinary of
members of the judiciary.
“As law makers, we don’t want to match violence to violence, crisis to
crisis. I therefore crave the indulgence of the House to write to the National
Judicial Council, NJC, to investigate the activities of the chief judge of
Nasarawa state in the setting up of the panel of investigation”, Akwashiki
moved.
The motion was seconded by Deputy Leader of the House, Hon. Yahaya Usman,
who represents Umasha/Ogha constituency.
Commenting on the motion, Hon. Orogu Francis (Keana constituenc y) said the
issue before the House was a clear matter of the abuse of office by the chief
judge of the state.
“The chief judge has joined forces and conspired with the political forces
that are prepared to prevent the legislative body in Nasarawa state from doing
its work. They are out to use every means both dubious and otherwise to
frustrate us from achieving what ordinarily is called justice in the rule of
law, and therefore the motion and secondment should stand,” he said.
Consequently, the Speaker, Ahmed Musa, directed the clerk of the House to
forward a petition to the NJC within 24 hours to act accordingly.
Meanwhile, the Chairman Committee on Information and Security, Hon. Baba Ibaku,
in a chat with reporters debunked allegations that Almakura bribed some top PDP
leadership in and outside the state to the tune of over N700million to
frustrate the lawmakers’ impeachment move.
Ibaku said the House does not care whether such thing exists or not because
“all we are concerned about is how we will do justice to the issue at hand and
we will never be distracted by anybody until we reach the end.”
If the NJC buys the view of the legislators, the vacating state chief judge may
be suspended over violation of the provision of the constitution that mandates
him to set up panel whose members do not belong to any political party. If that
happens, a new panel may be constituted and Almakura may be impeached within 14
days.
Source told Vanguard that the assembly is relying so much on the NJC to
suspend the Justice Dikko over an allegation that the CJ was given N100million
by the Nasarawa state government as bribe and the panel members were paid
N400million each against the N150, 000 originally meant to be paid to each
member per sitting.
The APC has condemned the renewed plan by the Nasarawa House of Assembly to
impeach Gov. Tanko Al-Makura, who has been cleared of the charges against him
by a duly constituted impeachment panel.
In a statement issued in Ilorin recently
by its National Publicity Secretary, Lai
Mohammed, the party said it would amount to an illegality for the lawmakers to
draft a pliant Vacation Judge, as it has been reported, to set up another panel
to probe the same 16 allegations over which the Governor has been absolved of
any wrongdoing.
The party said the governor cannot be impeached on the basis of the same
allegations, noting that if indeed the lawmakers want to follow the
Constitution, they will have to find a new set of impeachable offences against
the governor, notify him appropriately and then forward their request to the
Chief Judge, not to a Vacation Judge.
“That this latest move by the legislators, who are now marooned in Abuja
instead of their base in Lafia, is being instigated by the PDP is not in doubt,
irrespective of the unconvincing and tepid denial from the party. That this
illegality is being contemplated under the watch of President Goodluck Jonathan
is clear for all to see. In fact, it is in line with the culture of lawlessness
and impunity for which the Jonathan Administration has now become infamous,”
the party said.