Presidency plotting to impeach Nasarawa gov –NGF

Members of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum have accused the Presidency of plotting the impeachment of the Governor of Nasarawa State, Mallam Tanko Almakura.

The governors said this after their meeting in Abuja on Monday evening.

The meeting, which started around 8pm, ended in the early hours of Tuesday around 1:02am.

The governors described the alleged plan to impeach Al-Makura as an assault on  the 1999 Constitution.

A four-paragraph communique of the meeting was read by the Chairman of the Forum, who is also the Governor of Rivers State, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi.

The communique read, “It has come to our notice that the Presidency is plotting to illegally impeach the Governor of Nasarawa State, Mr. Tanko Al-Makura.

“We condemn this renewed assault on constitutional democracy.”

The governors also deliberated on the suspension of the Governor of Central Bank, Mallam Sanusi Lamido by President Goodluck Jonathan.

They said the action was wrong and that the suspension was aimed at diverting attention from the current national discourse on the missing $20bn from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation account.

According to them, “The suspension of Sanusi by Mr. President is in clear breach of the Nigerian Constitution and the CBN Act, 2007.

“The suspension is aimed at diverting attention from the current national discourse on the allegations of corruption and questionable accountability.

“We support the call of the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and the Senate Committee on Finance for a forensic audit of the NNPC Account.”

The governors also reiterated their concern about what they called the deliberate refusal of the Presidency to convene the National Economic Council meeting for seven months.

The Amaechi’s NGF argued that the action had emasculated the constitutional opportunity to discuss the “perilous state of the Nigerian economy thus plunging the nation into an economic and political crisis.”

They therefore appealed to the judiciary, especially the Supreme Court, to accelerate the hearing on all constitutional cases especially the suit on the Excess Crude Account and other illegal deductions.

On the killings in the North-East, the governors condemned the action, but commended the Nigerian military and other security agencies for their efforts to quell it.

They called on the Federal Government to wake up to its responsibility of protecting lives and property in the country, especially in the North-East.