Emmanuel Adeyemi, Lokoja
All may not have been heard over the controversial impeachment of the Kogi State Deputy Governor, Mr Simon Achuba, who was on last Monday hurriedly replaced with the former Chief of Staff to the governor, Mr Edward Onoja.
Although he has been driven out of the deputy governor’s official residence and all paraphernalia of office withdrawn from him, Achuba is insisting that he is still the deputy governor of the state.
According to him, “there was no action that took place and so I remain the deputy governor of the state until January 27, 2020 when a new administration will be sworn in”.
Interestingly, Onoja regarded as de facto governor and who is Achuba’s successor was said to have singlehandedly recommended the later as the deputy governor in spite of stringent opposition.
Achuba was a strong member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and indeed served in Capt. Idris Wada’s administration before defecting to the All Progressive Congress (APC) few weeks before the election.
Achuba was appointed deputy governor in 2016 in a controversial circumstance, three months after Yahaya Bello came into office having been also controversially sworn in as governor of the state on January 27, 2016 due to the sudden death of Prince Abubakar Audu, the All Progressive Congress governorship candidate who had already won the 2015 governorship election.
Audu’s running mate, Hon. James Faleke was naturally believed to be the right person to step into the deputy governorship position, but he was said to have declined the offer due to certain reasons.
The cosy relationship between Governor Bello and his deputy did not last long as it soon hit the rocks in mid-2017 when the later accused the governor of non-performance, non-payment of workers’ salaries and arbitrary use of power.
This confrontation later led to the stoppage of Achuba’s salaries and allowances, which amounted to over N819 million, a situation that made him to drag the governor to court.
The accumulated statutory allocations Achuba claimed that the state government owed him was put at N819,709,980, which include his travel allowances, hotel bills, pledges and outstanding monthly impress and salaries.
But the state government claimed the sum of N786, 427,480 (Seven Hundred and Eighty Six Million, Four Hundred and Twenty Seven, Four Hundred and Eighty Naira) of the N819, 709,980 (Eight Hundred and Nineteen Million, Seven Hundred and Nine Thousand, Nine Hundred and Eighty Naira Only) claimed by the Deputy Governor have not been approved let alone processed for payment .
The state government also claimed that part of the claims of the deputy governor included that of unauthorised trips and unapproved pledges and imprest.
Before this face off was brought to the public domain, however, it was learnt that Achuba had reportedly visited the presidency on more than 12 occasions for them to intervene in the crisis to no avail with even the National Chairman of the APC, Adam Oshiomhole refusing to do anything concrete on the issue.
Investigations revealed that Achuba’s problem actually started when he openly sympathized with the workers in the state over the non-payment of their salaries which some bootlickers were said to have presented to the governor as inciting the workers against his administration.
Again when General Yakubu Gowon visited the state on his pet project “Nigeria prays,” Achuba who represented the governor on the occasion was said to have made some uncomplimentary comments against those who are in position of authority without the fear of God
Cashing on this crisis, the state Assembly said to always be a willing tool in the hands of Governor Bello was said to have prepared an impeachment notice against Achuba “for portraying the state in a bad light before the national media.”
Political observers believe that the Assembly, which is under the leadership of Matthew Kolawole was merely acting the script prepared by Edward Onoja who Achuba has accused of seeking for immunity to cover his excesses.
Their allegations of gross misconduct against the deputy governor later led to the setting up of a five-man committee who were to look into the allegations leveled against the deputy governor.
The committee was headed by a born-again lawyer, Mr John Bayesia while the secretary of the panel was Mr Bamidele Aina, also a lawyer and a senior pastor in the Redeemed Christian Church of God.
However, after 49 days of fact-finding, the committee submitted its report back to the House, clearing the deputy governor from all the allegations leveled against him.
However, two hours after the submission of the report, the Assembly without studying the document and contrary to constitutional provisions went ahead to remove the deputy governor.
Security personnel were said to be immediately drafted to deputy governor’s official residence where he was allegedly forced out and treated like a common criminal.
Reacting to the impeachment, the chairman of the committee, Bayesia set up to investigate allegations of gross misconduct against Achuba, said that he his committee could not prove the allegations levelled against Achuba and, therefore, did not indict him.
He said in accordance with the law, the lawmakers could not have commenced impeachment proceedings since the panel could not prove the allegations against Achuba.
In his words “this is the most bizarre thing that I have ever heard in my life, we submitted the report to the speaker around 1pm and I left Lokoja for Abuja. I was at Gwagwalada area when one of the panel’s members who had not left Lokoja called to tell me that he saw it on television that the deputy governor had been impeached.
“As far as the report that we submitted to the House of Assembly is concerned, the committee returned the decision that all the allegations were not proved. What the constitution said by Section 188(8) is that, ‘once the panel returns a verdict like that. No further proceedings can be taken on it.
“That is it. It is only when the panel returns a verdict that allegations have been proved (to be true) that they can go ahead within 40 days. When did the House sit? We delivered the documents and the House was not even in session at that time.”
Meanwhile the majority leader of the Assembly, Abdullahi Hassan Bello has accused the judicial panel of inqury to have compromised in the assignment given to them.
But Bello said that “based on the “Rule of Procedure” given to members of the panel, their assignment was a fact-finding one, and were not required to give any resolution.
“The panel submitted report to us and based on their report, we gave our verdict. The rule of procedure says that the panel is a fact finding panel; they are not to give judgment and it was in the rule of procedure which they accepted. They are not supposed to give any verdict in this circumstance.
“The decision of whether the deputy governor is guilty or not guilty is that of the House. If you look at Section 188(11), it says the House of Assembly is the only authority, which determines what gross misconduct is. It is not for the panel to say proved or not proved, therefore, the impeachment stands.”
Achuba himself described his impeachment as illegal and unconstitutional and cannot stand the test of time, insisting that he is still the deputy governor.
To put credence that the Assembly was indeed acting the script of Governor Bello and Onoja, the House was said to have invited Onoja as early as 7:00 a.m on Monday and confirmed him as the new deputy governor without asking him any question.
He was subsequently sworn in as the new deputy governor at the Government House, few minutes later.
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kabba/Bunu Local Government Area has described the actions of the state House of Assembly under the leadership of Rt. Hon. Prince Mathew Kolawole as threat to the nation’s democracy.
In a statement signed by Adebayo Kehinde, the party stated that the Kogi Assembly has suspended the Nigerian constitution in their legislative activities.
“It is very pathetic to see an arm of government that is saddled with the responsibility of making laws in accordance with Nigerian constitution and also has the mandate of checkmating the excesses of executives, but has now chosen to be a stooge to the executive arm of government.
“The recent daylight robbery on Nigerian constitution by Kogi state House of Assembly which led to the illegal removal of Kogi State deputy governor, His Excellency, Elder Solomon Achuba despite the fact that the report of judicial panel exonerated him of the six allegations of gross misconduct that were levelled against him.
“We expected the present Assembly under the leadership of Rt. Hon. Kolawole to be learned enough to understand the position of Nigerian constitution as clearly stated in Section 188(8) of the 1999 Constitution: “where the panel reports to the House of Assembly that the allegation have not been proved, no further proceedings shall be taken in respect of the matter.
“We are compelled to speak out owing to the fact that the Speaker of Kogi State House of Assembly is from our local government and Kabba/Bunu indigenes have always been showing capacity in any position they occupy. It’s a pity that the Speaker has been acting like a commissioner instead of showing capacity as leader of an important arm of government.
“It will be very important and beneficial for Rt. Hon. Kolawole to lead an Assembly that will make laws that is capable of turning the fortunes of Kogites around instead of becoming of a stooge to the executive,” he said.
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) while reacting to the impeachment said that any action to be taken by the interested parties should be guided by the dictates of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and adhered to the rule of law.
In a statement signed the Publicity Secretary of the association, Mr Kunle Edun, the group said: “Available information indicates that the Honorable Chief Judge of Kogi State in the exercise of his constitutional powers and pursuant to a Resolution of the Kogi State House of Assembly, constituted a seven-man panel, chaired by Mr John Baiyeshea, SAN, to investigate the allegations of misconduct against the deputy governor of Kogi State.
“The said Investigation Panel has since submitted its report to the Kogi State House of Assembly, finding the deputy governor not guilty and cleared him of all the allegations made against him.
“The Nigerian Bar Association views these events with great concerns and urges all parties to exercise great caution.
“Any action to be taken by the interested parties should be guided by dictates of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the need to adhere to the rule of law. Parties concerned should also avoid any act that may pose a threat to the peace and security of Kogi State.”
However, speaking with this reporter on the issue, the media aide to the governor, Kingsley Fabwo, said that the impeached deputy governor was the architect of his woes.
“He was disloyal to his boss, disloyal to the government he was serving, disloyal to the good people of Kogi State and disloyal to truth.
“He understands why he severed relationship with the system. The administration in the state doesn’t condone violence and division. He needs to apologize to his people for the crisis that engulfed Ibaji in 2016.
“His Excellency, the Deputy Governor of the state, Chief Edward Onoja was not his problem. Achuba should also be grateful to His Excellency, Chief Edward Onoja for recommending him for that position in the first place.
“It was sad that he was in an APC government and PDP won his ward. It was either because he was ineffective or he worked against the party.
“He was also found to have dipped his fingers in some corrupt practices and violation of financial rules as regards his office.
By going public and berserk against the governor, it was obvious that he was being sponsored by the opposition. That plan failed,” Fabwo said.
Although Achuba has headed for the courts, praying that his impeachment be declared illegal, null and void, the fight might have just begun.