By CHINELO OBOGO

Mixed reactions yesterday trailed the impeachment of Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State, with some people condemning it and others saying the lawmakers exercised their constitutional duty.

A former governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, described Nyako’s impeachment as unfortunate, but said that following the happenings in the state, the action  was inevitable.

According to him, “Nyako is a personal friend of mine. He was the first person to take me to sea in a naval vessel and I like him as a person. The truth is that, in the first instance, he never wanted to be governor. It was Obasanjo that practically forced him to fill the nomination form to emerge as governor. He is independent-minded and he wants to always be his man.

“Unfortunately, it is his sojourn with the All Progressives Congress (APC) that spoilt everything. Also, his recent unguarded memo against the president, where he accused him of committing genocide against the North, was in bad faith. As a leader, he did not need to say that because we are all witnesses to the havoc that the Boko Haram sect is wreaking.

“This may be partly responsible for what is happening to him. I am neither condemning him nor am I condemning the House of Assembly. It is unfortunate, but that is part of democracy.”

The Lagos State Publicity Secretary of the APC,  Joe Igbokwe said that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has declared war on the APC.

Nyako’s impeachment, he said, was an indication that the PDP is all out for the APC and was trying to subdue its strength.

He described the impeachment as detrimental to democracy and warned that if the trend continued, it would boomerang on the nation.

He said: “The PDP is fomenting trouble and it would be detrimental to our young democracy if this continues. It is very obvious that they have declared war on the APC, because they are only targeting APC governors. Why are they not targeting governors from the PDP? Is it that they do not commit impeachable offences or what? What do you expect Nyako to do? We saw the handwriting on the wall and we warned the nation against the antics of the PDP. But I believe that Nyako will contest the impeachment in court because he did not commit any impeachable offence. At the end, we believe that justice would prevail.”

Former governor of Anambra State, Chinwoke Mbadinuju, said that no one could be impeached without a reason and warned that it was a lesson for governors across the 36 states of the federation.

According to him: “It is a pity that things happened the way they did, but the truth is that I saw it coming. Our democracy is still very young and such things should not be happening at this time in our nation’s history. Nyako has always had issues with politicians in his state, but I expected him to handle the situation in a more mature way. He now worsened his problems by writing a memo, indirectly accusing the president of leading genocide against the North. It was a very wrong thing to do, especially as we all know that the Boko Haram sect has been targeting both northerners and non-northerners. They have destroyed many lives and property and the president is tackling the situation in the best possible way. So, it is wrong for anyone to accuse him of such grievous things.

“Nyako brought the problem on himself, even when he knew that he did not have a strong hold on the House of Assembly. But let us watch and see how events unfold.”

A legal practitioner, Fred Agbaje, described Nyako’s impeachment as a danger to democracy. He accused the PDP of impunity, saying the party’s plan was to turn the country into a one-party state.

His words: “The machination of the PDP is at work and they are scheming to convert this country into a one-party state. Nyako’s impeachment did not come as a surprise, but I believe that it can be challenged in a court of competent jurisdiction. This is because the impeachment process was flawed from the beginning.

“He was not given an impeachment notice and he can contest that in court. However, what I find puzzling is why he avoided being served a notice. It would have been better if he submitted himself to an investigative panel and defended himself well.

“By that, the world would know that he is innocent of the allegations levelled against him. But I maintain that this impeachment action is harmful to our democracy.”


Source: Sun