Ambrose Bierce, an American writer, said: “Politics is a strife of interest masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.”
Any moment from now, Tanko Al-Makura, governor, Nasarawa State, will be led to the gallows already prepared by hangmen in government.
In the last few days, preparations for his final execution have been on. There have been nocturnal meetings where decisions were perfected to do away with the “irritant”.
Russell Wayne Baker, American columnist, said: “The dirty work at political convention (impeachment- emphasis mine) is almost always done in the grin hours between midnight and damn. Hangmen and politicians work best when the human spirit is at its lowest ebb.”
Recently, the Nasarawa State House of Assembly on adopted alleged impeachment offences against Governor Al-Makura. Since the news broke, members of the House have been meeting in all manner of places to perfect the impeachment arrangement. Most of the meetings are held at night when men are asleep.
Al-Makura belongs to the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC). Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Musa Ahmed, had directed the Clerk of the House to serve the governor with notice of impeachment for acts of gross misconduct.
The speaker’s directive followed a motion of public interest raised by the Deputy Majority Leader of the House, Yahaya Usman (PDP-Umaisha/Ugya), during the house plenary in Lafia.
The lawmaker presented a document containing allegations of gross misconduct against the governor, which he said was signed by 20 of the 24 members of the Assembly.
“I am on my feet to raise a motion under a matter of public interest and I will go direct to read the document I have in my hand. This is a notice of impeachment of Governor Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa State for gross misconduct.
“And for the violation of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended, today being the 14th July, 2014, the 20 members of the 24 members of this House unanimously endorsed to serve Governor Tanko Al-Makura notice of impeachment,” he said.
The Chief Whip of the House, Mohammed Okpede, who also is of the PDP seconded the motion to serve Al-Makura with the impeachment notice over alleged misconduct.
Musa Ahmed, speaker of the House, was said to have officially received the impeachment notice and noted that the House had complied with the provision of the constitution to serve the governor with an impeachment notice.
He subsequently directed the Clerk to serve the impeachment notice on Al-Makura last Monday.
He said: “While in the event that the governor could not be reached for service, the clerk is directed to serve him with the impeachment notice through the media.”
The governor was accused of siphoning state funds and as a result should not be allowed to continue as the chief security officer of the state.
The governor was alleged to have spent over N2 billion from the local government joint account without recourse to due process. It was also said that the governor used a proxy, Usman Saraki, to swindle the state of over N800 million as a consultant to SUBEB, and that over N700 million was missing from the SURE-P accounts.
Other allegations for which the House is threatening to show him the exit door that he had sacked over 10,000 workers from the state payroll without following due process.
“The governor has gone beyond his constitutional boundaries and must face the law like every other Nigerian because he is not sacrosanct to the constitution of our land,” a member of the Assembly is quoted as saying.
At a point last week, it was gathered that following the directive by the speaker to the Clerk to serve the notice of the governor, Al-Makura, who was said to be at the commissioning of Olam Farm Doma by President Goodluck Jonathan, ordered security agents to shut down the Government House to prevent anybody from gaining entry to serve him the notice.
Last Thursday youths were said to have taken over the major streets in the state capital to register their discontent with the planned impeachment of the governor. Reports had it that the angry youths barricaded and made bonfire on roads in Lafia, Keffi, Akwanga and Mararabe.
They were particularly riled by what they said was an attempt by the national ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to take control of Nasarawa State through the impeachment of the governor.
Pundits say that despite the protest, Al-Makura’s impeachment is a fait accompli.
Zebulon Agomuo
