Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State has been impeached

Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State has been impeached by the state house of assembly, putting an end to weeks of intense politicking over the fate of the governor
His deputy, Bala Ngilari, who was also probed, resigned on Tuesday before the impeachment proceedings against the governor began. With Nyako’s impeachment and Ngilari’s resignation, the speaker, Alhaji Umaru Fintiri, is now the acting governor. A new election will be organised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) within 90 days in order to produce a substantive governor. The house sat and deliberated on the report of the seven-man investigative panel which sat and indicted Nyako ─ who did not make any attempt to defend himself. Nyako had declared two days ─ July 7 and 8 ─ as public holiday apparently to stall the impeachment move, although the officially stated reason was for citizens of Adamawa to “pray and reflect” on the state of the state. The tenure of Justice Ambrose Mammadi as acting chief judge of the state ended on July 7 and it was thought that with him unable to inaugurate the panel on a public holiday, Nyako would be able to appoint a new and “friendly” CJ after the break. It was alleged that the plan was to make the new CJ dissolve the panel set up by Mammadi and then appoint persons likely to clear Nyako of the allegations. However, the panel went ahead to sit, with the registrar of the state high court, Abubakar Babayola, saying the panel was not constitutionally required to be inaugurated. Inauguration, he said, is just an “administrative ceremony”. The house began the impeachment process last month, listing 20 allegations against Nyako and six against Ngilari. Some of the allegations against Nyako included diversion of N2.3 billion workers’ salary for September and October 2011, and illegal deductions and diversion of N142 million emoluments of workers in May 2014. He was also alleged to have squandered N4.8 billion and N7.1 billion in 2012 and 2013 respectively, through the office of the secretary to the government against budgetary approvals.