Muideen Olaniyi
2 July 2008
Abuja — Moves by members of the Adamawa State Assembly to impeach Governor Murtala Hamman Yero Nyako came to a sudden end yesterday when national officials of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) brokered a truce.
PDP National Chairman Prince Vincent Ogbulafor announced this at a media briefing at the party's secretariat in Abuja. Both Governor Murtala Nyako and Speaker of the State House of Assembly Mr. James Barka were present at the briefing.
On Monday last week, the Assembly passed a resolution, signed by 20 out of its 25 members, to serve Nyako with a notice of impeachment for allegedly committing 16 impeachable offences. The six-page impeachment notice was tabled by the Deputy Speaker Aliyu Isa Ahmadu. The members accused the governor of gross misconduct in the performance of his official duties and other unconstitutional acts.
Ogbulafor said yesterday that as part of the agreement reached, the party would cancel the local government primaries earlier conducted in the state and organize fresh ones, to be supervised by the national leadership.
On other issues raised during the 9-day imbroglio, the National Chairman said they would be resolved "administratively," especially the corruption allegations leveled by the legislators.
He said, "We have come here this morning (yesterday) in continuation of a journey we started a couple of days back. We have come to round it off. We thank the Almighty God. The spirit of God in us has made us to realize that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. We are all brothers and sisters in Adamawa State. We are all brothers and sisters in PDP, which is the ruling party.
"....I am therefore delighted to announce to the people of PDP, the people of Adamawa and the people of Nigeria that the impasse in Adamawa has been amicably resolved. The party will in furtherance to the agreement reached yesterday night (Monday night) organize a congress and monitor it. We will also cancel the primary that was conducted earlier on and organize another primary for which we have to carry everybody along. The National Secretariat through the National Organizing Secretary will with immediate effect put acts in motion and within a very short time, we will realize it."
"We therefore urge the people of Adamawa State that since the party has stepped in and they have given the party due respect, and both governor and the speaker have come to under-stand themselve, we shall now progress to deliver democracy dividend to the people who voted for us," Ogbulafor added.
While thanking them for respecting the party, Ogbulafor added that "whatever else is left will be handled administratively." Describing the situation as 'no victor no vanquished', the National Chairman urged the executive and legislature in Adamawa to respectively concentrate on governance and legislative responsibilities.
He also called on both the Governor and the Speaker "to go back to Adamawa as one and the same and make the party proud by putting smiles on the faces of every Adamawa person and food at their table." He urged them to relate to each other in such a way that would eradicate misunderstanding and promote smooth and good governance. Ogbulafor lauded the efforts of President Umaru Musa Yar'adua and Vice President Goodluck Jonathan that culminated in the peaceful resolution of the crisis.
In his remarks, Speaker Barka said the impeachment notice had not been served on the governor, adding that "the impeachment saga is over." He added, "Your Excellency, you have said it all, that we have resolved the issue and we will like to first of all thank the leadership of the party, the presidency and every member of the National Working Committee (NWC) who timely intervened. The members, after series of meetings, we have agreed.
"But I will like also to say that at this moment, the Governor has not been served the impeachment notice. And when the party came in, we decided collectively that we are not going to extend this notice of impeachment. And so therefore, the impeachment saga is over.
"But also we like to state here for the benefit of our country, for the benefit of the people of Adamawa State that the allegations contained in the impeachment will be handled administratively between the House of Assembly and the Governor.
"We have resolved that those constitutional issues that were raised will have to be replied by the governor so that the people of Adamawa will actually see that the Governor has really endorsed the political issue which the party chairman has even read. Those political issues have been resolved here amicably."
Governor Nyako, in his brief remarks, thanked all the stakeholders including the Speaker and members of the State Assembly who worked towards reaching an amicable resolution of the crisis.
Nyako said that all the issues raised in the letter by the State Assembly would be addressed, adding that no file in the state is being kept from public knowledge.
While promising to work closely with the state lawmakers in the governance of the state, he said what the House has done is basically its oversight function. Governor Nyako said he was ready to deliver democracy dividend for the people of Adamawa in the quest to move the state forward.
He said, "I will like to thank Almighty God for making it possible for us to resolve this particular issue before us.
I want to thank Mr. President and the Vice President for their concern and their contribution to resolving this issue amicably. I want to thank most especially the national leadership of our party for the enormous concern they have shown and the efforts they have put in to get to the root cause of this and help find an amicable solution. It does not only show that the PDP is not only the greatest party in Africa but also a cohesive party.
"I want to sincerely thank the Speaker and the members of the Adamawa State House of Assembly for allowing us to come to this conclusion or probably an amicable approach to the issues raised by the house. Nobody is saying that the issue raised will not be addressed.
It will be addressed and I want to assure you, Mr. Chairman that I will address each item in the letter or the notice to discuss this matter thoroughly.
"There is no file in Adamawa State which is a top secret now or even secret. Most of this is open. So, we will show you the genesis of all these issues and how they were concluded. And if there is infrastructure to show for the expenditure, we will show it. We will take photograph. If there are services rendered, we will let you know.
I want to thank the house. The House has done what was its most important function, which is oversight responsibility. The Adamawa executive and the whole executive must go by the constitution and the law of the land. We are indeed happy that you have pointed out that one to us, especially at the beginning of this term.
"Thank you very much and I promise you that as we have done in the past , we are going to work very, very closely on all issues in Adamawa State. We want democracy dividend to be given to everybody in Adamawa State and we want to move the state forward. Once more, I thank you very much for your contribution towards the amicable solution to our impasse in our Adamawa State."
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