Adamawa State has had three governors from two political parties in less than one year. In this report, LEKE BAIYEWU examines the circumstances behind the events
Among states with the highest level of political activities in 2014, Adamawa State is one. Within the year, three different persons of different political parties have occupied the state’s governorship office. Before the next governorship election holds in 2015—that is, if the ongoing legal battles do not lead to a by-election—more political drama is expected to play out in the state.
The year began with Murtala Nyako as the second-term governor of the state. His tenure was to end in May 2015, but his impeachment process began after he defected from the Peoples Democratic Party, on whose platform he won both times, to the All Progressives Congress. The state House of Assembly, with the PDP majority, eventually sacked him on July 15, 2014.
While Nyako left the PDP for the APC, his deputy, Bala Ngilari, remained in the ruling party.
The same day Nyako was sacked, Fintiri was sworn in as acting governor—the second governor of the state within the year. Ngilari, who was the next person constitutionally empowered to succeed him, was said to have resigned his appointment in a controversial circumstance.
The Assembly had claimed that it received a resignation letter from Ngilari. The lawmakers consequently declared the deputy governorship seat vacant. Hence, it paved the way for the Speaker of the Assembly.
In a move to reverse his sacking, Nyako had approached a Federal High Court in Lagos, seeking an order declaring his removal from office null and void.
In a suit filed by a Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Olukoya Ogungbeje, on his behalf, Nyako is seeking fundamental rights enforcement.
On his part, Ngilari had also denied his purported resignation, urging a Federal High Court in Abuja to order that he be sworn in as the governor.
In a suit filed on his behalf by his counsel, Mr. Festus Keyamo, Ngilari said his purported resignation letter addressed to the speaker of the assembly was in breach of constitutional provisions, which strictly provides that such letter should be sent to the governor of the state.
He maintained in the suit before Justice Adeniyi Ademola that Nyako was still in office as of July 14 when he wrote the letter, arguing that that since the letter fell short of the constitutional requirement, the letter amounted to nullity.
While the legal battles were ongoing, the Independent National Electoral Commission had begun preparations for a governorship by-election to elect a substantive governor of the state.
INEC had fixed October 11, 2014 for the by-election, as the Electoral Act requires it to conduct a by-election for the office being occupied by an acting governor within 90 days of the vacancy in the office.
The commission had insisted that it would go ahead with the conduct of the by-election, despite court cases in connection with the governorship seat. As INEC was preparing for the by-election, political parties, particularly the APC and the PDP, had held primaries to field their candidates.
Senator Bindo Jibrilla had emerged as the flag bearer of the APC in a primary contested by six aspirants. Other contestants were Senator Ahmed Barata, Yakubu Tsala, Emmanuel Bello, Ibrahim Mijinyawa and Boss Mustapha.
In the PDP, several political heavyweights—about 14 of them—rose up to contest for the slot. The development became a herculean task for the party; so hard that the national leadership of the party had to intervene.
Even the pioneer Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nuhu Ribadu, had surprisingly returned to the PDP (from the APC) to contest the election.
Eventually, most of the aspirants were asked to shelve their ambition till 2015. Six aspirants contested in the September primary, while eight others withdrew from it—to wait till the next election. Fintiri later beat former Military Administrator of Lagos State, Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.) and others to the ticket.
However, the proposed by-election was botched on Wednesday, when a Federal High Court order stopped the poll in which Fintiri, the acting governor, would have contested as the Peoples Democratic Party candidate. The court also directed that Ngilari be sworn in as the new governor, after Fintiri had spent two months and three weeks in the office.
Same day, INEC announced the suspension of all preparations for the Adamawa State governorship by-election, scheduled for October 11, 2014.
INEC, in a statement by its Acting Secretary, Mr. Musa H. Adamu, said, “The Federal High Court, Abuja on Wednesday, October 8, 2014, delivered judgment, in suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/545/2014, between Barrister Bala James Ngilari, and the Speaker, Adamawa State House of Assembly and five others.
“The court declared that Ngilari did not resign from his office as deputy governor as required by the 1999 Constitution and granted, among others, an order restraining INEC from conducting a by-election to fill the office of governor of Adamawa State.
“In compliance with the court order, INEC hereby suspends all preparations for the conduct of governorship by-election in Adamawa State, which was scheduled to hold on Saturday, October 11, 2014.”
Consequently, Ngilari was immediately sworn in as governor – the third governor of the state in the year. Thus, Fintiri packed out of the Government House in Yola, however, saying he had already appealed his sacking by the FHC.
“The orders of the court cannot be complied with until the appeal process is disposed of,” he said.
In his reaction, Nyako, whose case is pending in court, described the judgement as a first step towards his return to office as governor.
The former governor, while congratulating Ngilari in a statement, said the verdict was a further testimony to the fact that his “purported” impeachment was characterised by extreme illegality and political brigandage.
The statement partly read, “We wish to observe that this is the first step in the judicial process of correcting the wrongs of the Adamawa State House of Assembly.
“We are confident that the Nigerian judiciary will further confirm the injustices associated with the purported removal of Governor Murtala Nyako, which was done in a manner akin to a civilian coup d’état.
“The process of the reversal of all the series of illegalities connected with the supposed impeachment saga has only just commenced and will continue until it culminates with the return of Governor Nyako to Government House, Yola.”
On Thursday, Ngilari approved the dissolution of the State Executive Council and the sacking of all political appointees with “immediate effect,” in what political observers described as an attempt to uproot the structure of the previous administration.
That same day, Fintiri reverted to his former position as Speaker of the state House of Assembly, in which he masterminded the sacking of Nyako.
Political pundits believe that it is a win-win case for the PDP in Adamawa. Both the sacked Finriti and the installed Ngilari belong to the party. However, while Fintiri enjoys the backing of his fellow lawmakers in the state Assembly, Ngilari is allegedly loyal to Nyako.
Before the by-election was cancelled, the APC had stated that it was using both electoral and judicial means to get the governorship seat.
The Publicity Secretary of the party in Lagos State, Joe Igbokwe, had told SUNDAY PUNCH that the party would not boycott the by-election to protest Nyako’s controversial sacking. “The court is there; the election is there. If we don’t win the election, we still have the option of going back to court,” he said.
The Director, Press and Public Affairs under Nyako’s administration, Ahmad Sajoh, had also told SUNDAY PUNCH that, “It could be a repeat of the Obi’s case (a former governor of Anambra State). Whoever emerges as the winner (assuming the by-election would hold) would vacate the seat as soon as the court returns my boss. We believe that the judiciary will reverse the whole illegality.”
Also speaking to our correspondent, the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Abdullahi Jalo, had said the people of Adamawa had rejected Nyako when he defected from the PDP to the APC.
He said, “The impeached governor (Nyako) was a member of the PDP before he defected. The defection, as you know, was without the people of the state. That was why his impeachment became so easy; that was why the people took to the street to celebrate his impeachment.”
Corroborating Jalo, the Deputy Majority Leader and Chairman, House Committee on Information of the state House of Assembly, Adamu Kamale, stated that the PDP was the choice party in Adamawa.
He said, “The PDP is the party that has come to stay in Adamawa; we are going to win massively in any election. The opposition – the APC – has nothing more than what they had under Nyako’s administration.”
Analysing the political events in Adamawa, a senior lecturer in the Department of Political Science and International Relations, University of Abuja, Prof. Saleh Dauda,
He said, “One of the cardinal ingredients of democracy is the rule of law. Regarding what is happening on Adamawa State, it is a vindication of the rule of law; that governance should be based on the constitution. Once it is not based on the constitution, that government is illegal. That is what has happened in Adamawa State.
“It is healthy for democracy. If the politicians can play the game anyhow, we have the third arm of government – that is the judiciary – to put things into order.”
Dauda, however, decried that frequent change of leadership of any government had negative effects on the development of the territory. He said the sacking of all government and political appointees “in one sweep” without considering their qualities was bad for good governance.
“Changing of leadership constantly will not augur well for development. No long-term developmental policies and the state will remain underdeveloped. Even with the nature of Nigerian politics, there seems to be no continuity,” Dauda added.
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