Impeachment saga: Group urges NASS to takeover Adamawa Assembly

From Umar Dankano, Yola

 A group, under the aegis Adamawa Concern Citizens, has petitioned the Speaker House of representatives to wade into Adamawa political crisis by taking over the activities of the state’s House of Assembly.

The group accused the lawmakers of collecting financial inducement to impeach Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa state, stressing that was the genesis of their position.

In a three petition addressed and sent through courier to the Speaker, Honorable Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, and signed by the state coordinator of the association Mr. James Musa, referred to a news item captioned “War Drums in Adamawa state” said to have been published in one of the dailies on May 28, 2014 (not Peoples Daily).

The petition, which a copy was made available to journalists in Yola on Monday, said a newspaper publication alleged that Adamawa lawmakers collected financial inducement to impeach the state governor.

The petitioners, therefore, urged the federal lawmakers to urgently takeover legislative functions in Adamawa, to forestall breakdown of law and order.

“As can be inferred from the publication, there were strong speculations that the Adamawa state House of Assembly had mobilized with a view to impeach Governor Murtala Nyako, having been financially induced to do so by a sitting governor in one of the states from the Niger Delta.

“Unfolding events have eventually proved these speculations to be potentially true, as the Adamawa House of Assembly has eventually issued notice to that effect already.

“Now, while the Constitution has provided that no organ of government, including our hallowed courts, can interfere in

such proceedings, it is also open knowledge that the courts have successfully reversed both concluded and on-going cases of impeachment base on procedural irregularities, including one such attempt on an immediate past governor here in the state”.

The petition further read: “We are also certain Honorable Speaker, that you will agree that no irregularity can be more grave and unacceptable than the acceptance of money by legislators either to pass legislations (no matter how desirable they are) or much worse, to remove an elected governor”.

The petition therefore, prayed the Speaker and the National Assembly to invoke relevant sections of the constitution of Nigeria which empowers them to suspend and to also takeover legislative activities of any erring state Assembly to apply same on Adamawa state House of Assembly.

It further requested the Speaker to cause, or commence, immediate investigation into the financial inducement allegation and to also identify the governor from the Niger Delta, so as to have him punished for diverting public funds.