Pro-democracy group condemns Nyako’s impeachment

A pro-democracy group, the Voters’ Assembly (VOTAS) has condemned Tuesday’s impeachment of Adamawa State Governor, Murtala Nyako. The group, in a statement signed by its Chairman, Comrade Mashood Erubami, Wednesday, said Nyako’s impeachment set a new template for vindictive politics in Nigeria, describing it as an ominous sign that the 2015 election will be racked with possible catastrophes. The statement read in part: “If the impeachment of Governor Murtala Nyako in Adamawa is left unchallenged, it would have spill -over effect, in other states where the legislators are already beating the drum of impeachment as is the case in Edo, Rivers, Kano, and Nassarawa, in an attempt at putting the states on the keg of gun powder which could possibly cause a chain of reactions, the end of which nobody could predict. “Obviously, the political environment is now soaked with series of alarms over threat to the lives of key members of opposition parties and potential candidates in the 2015 election, so is the threat of impeachment actions are hovering over some of the states not under the control of the PDP, a worrisome and anti-democratic advance being perpetrated through monetarily pacified legislators who are daily waking up to see the past misdemeanors committed by their governors. These same Legislators have had to encourage their Governors to defect, to other parties and later using the defection and not really the listed allegations for their impeachment. “In the case of Nyako, the legislators have shown that there was no thorough investigation of the conduct of Murtala Nyako as they were only out to play the script of devil written for them from outside the state without due regards for God and the constitution. “The way the investigation was handled within few days of sitting by the panel as against the 3 months prescribed by the constitution and the manner of submitting and affirming the report by the honorable members within few days it was submitted to it suggest that it was not the allegations that were at the root of the impeachment and this queried the religious beliefs of those internally concerned and their outside instigators and masterminds. “The legislators themselves are guilty of gross misconduct, a grave violation of the processes set by the constitution to be met before any impeachment could be commenced such as direct personal service and fair hearing, more so when the Supreme Court has ruled that such a notice must be personally served. The question is that should the law be disallowed to rule because of the preference of the few who want to abuse their power and misuse their authority?” VOTAS said the action of the legislators portends a dangerous trend, adding that it came at a wrong time when the country is dangerously transiting from civil governance to democracy in the midst of overwhelming insecurity.