Abuja — In the first of such moves during the administration of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, Adamawa State Governor Murtala Nyako got a major shock yesterday as the state House of Assembly served him an impeachment notice.

The governor was alleged to have committed 16 impe-achable offences. Nyako was returned to the governorship seat last April after a rerun poll.

In the six-page impeachment notice tabled before the House by the Deputy Speaker Aliyu Isa Ahmadu and signed by 20 of the 25 members of the assembly, the governor was accused of gross misconduct in the performance of his official duties and other unconstitutional acts.

But the notice of impeachment could not be handed over to the governor as he was said not to be on seat when the despatch arrived his office.

Following the 1999 constitution, one-third of members of the House is needed to serve impeachment notice on the governor while two-third majority are required to effect an impeachment

The House is controlled by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which has 17 members while Action Congress (AC) has 8 members.

In the notice of impeachment obtained by THISDAY last night, Nyako was accused of obtaining a loan of $50 million or N6 billion with a repayment regime of 34 months at N248 million net per month.

This, according to the impeachment notice, amounts to N8,432,000,000, which has allegedly subjected the state to an unnecessary financial burden.

Nyako is also accused of unilaterally obtaining the loan without the assembly's approval as required by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

According to the notice, the lawmakers said: "The interesting part of the loan is that the financier, the consultant and contractor for the projects selected for execution with the money is one and the same."

The assembly identified the company involved as Messrs SNECOU Group of companies Ltd, "a company with a share capital of only N1 million."

The lawmakers said the company did not have the capacity to handle such a transaction involving large sums of public money.

"There is also no evidence that the money was paid into any account which the Adamawa State Government operates. Meanwhile, repayment of the money has already commenced since May 2008 at the rate of N248 million per month," they said in the notice.

Nyako was also accused of obtaining another loan from a second generation bank to the tune of N5 billion with a repayment rate of N457,211,021.49 million per month.

The assembly disclosed that both loans were procured without the authorisation of the House contrary to Section 120 (2) (3) and (4) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999.

The governor was also alleged to have frozen the account of Mayo Belwa Local Government Council in the state.

This, the legislators insisted, took place with little regard for due process.

The legislators also accused the governor of authorising illegal deductions from the joint accounts of local governments thereby starving them of funds which they were to deploy in implementing their projects for the benefit of the people.

They alleged that most times the local governments had to end up with overdraft to pay salaries.

The lawmakers said: "the above blatant acts of maladministration, clear breaches of the provisions of the constitution, unwarranted expenditure of public funds for personal and political purposes, disregard for the state House of Assembly has resulted in the strained relationship that may likely endanger the peaceful existence of the state."

Nyako whose initial electoral mandate in 2007 was terminated by the election petitions tribunal after an 8-month stay in office was sworn in in 2008 after the court ordered a rerun election on May 21 2008 which he won.

Since then, he had been having a running battle with members of the assembly, particularly the Speaker, Hon James Barka, who was acting governor of the state during the interim period.

The Nyako administration had accused the speaker of not only doing enough to ensure the return of Nyako during the court ordered rerun election but had also accused him of not being able to account for over N2 billion while he acted.

Apart from the 20 members that signed the impeachment notice, two others are said to be away on pilgrimage to Mecca while one member just won his re-election two weeks ago and is yet to be sworn in.

Yola metropolis was generally calm with people going about their normal activities.

But a team of policemen had cordoned-off the state assembly on Army Barracks Road earlier in the day when the House deliberated on the matter.

The Speaker, Barka, abstained from signing the notice as the presiding officer. Another member opted out of the impeachment proceedings

Explaining the impeachment notice to pressmen, Barka said the issue at stake was the unconstitutional behaviour of the governor while performing his duties.

"It is not how long he stays in office or whether the members wanted to distract him," adding that, the members are acting on specific allegations and not speculations.

Barka said the House was embarking on a process, which could be proved right or wrong and appealed to the public to be patient as events unfold.

Senior Special Adviser to Nyako on Media and Publicity, Aminu Inyawa, said the lawmakers were only expressing their frustration over last Saturday PDP local government primaries where their candidates did not win.

He said the governor had refused to intervene on anybody's behalf in the election, opting for a free and fair process.

The Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Maijamaa Umar, however, said Nyako would address the issues raised as soon as the impeachment notice was served on him.

Meanwhile, the PDP National Secretariat has summoned all the protagonists in the crisis to Abuja.

Speaking with THISDAY, the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Prof. Ahmed Rufai Alkali, said: "We are still studying the situation in the state before taking any decision.

"But to get the full details of the crisis, the party has invited all the principal stakeholders to Abuja for a better understanding of the issues. It is after this that we can make a pronouncement on the matter."