IMPEACHMENT: Suspense In Kogi As Judges Avoid Swearing In Of New Deputy Governor

* Vested interests search for amenable judge
* Panel members ‘turn down juicy offers to write indicting report’
against Achuba

THE Kogi State government appears to be facing an uphill task in
getting the newly handpicked Deputy Governor designate Edward
Onoja, sworn in as required by the Constitution.

Onoja, who is Governor Yahaya Bello’s running mate in next
month’s election, was named on Friday as successor to Mr. Simon
Achuba.

Achuba was impeached by the State House of Assembly within hours
of the submission of the report of the panel raised by the Chief
Judge of the state, Justice Nasiru Ajana to investigate the
allegations against him.

The panel headed by a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr. John
Baiyesha, had cleared Achuba of all the allegations against
him.

Authoritative sources in the State said judges are reluctant to
inaugurate Onoja because of the panel’s clearance of Achuba of the
allegations against him.

The panel said allegations of misappropriation of funds and
non-compliance with extant financial regulations by the Deputy
Governor were not proved.

The report said in part: “In line with Section 188(8) of the
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended)
quoted herein before, we hereby report to the Kogi State House of
Assembly that the allegations contained in the Notice of
Allegations admitted in evidence by this Panel as Exhibit C7 have
not been proved.”

There is now suspense over who will administer the oath of
office on Edward Onoja.

Section 185 (2) of the Constitution provides thus: “the Oath of
Allegiance and the oath of office shall be administered by the
Chief Judge of the State or Grand Khadi of the Sharia Court Appeal
of the State, if any, or president of the Customary Court of Appeal
of the State, if any, or the person for the time being respectively
appointed to exercise the functions of any of those offices in any
state.”

Most of the judges are scared of getting sanctioned by the
National Judicial Council (NJC) for acts considered to run contrary
to the letters and provisions of the Constitution.

Chief Judge Ajana is an adherent to the spirit and letters of
the Constitution and it has been difficult for the state government
to approach him to administer the oath on Onoja.

Sources said on Saturday that some political forces were
shopping for either an amenable judge or the President of the
Customary Court to swear in the new Deputy Governor.

Investigation by our correspondent revealed that neither the
State House of Assembly nor Governor Bello had notified the Chief
Judge yesterday of the removal of Achuba.

It was learnt that some forces in the state had been working on
permutations on how to inaugurate Onoja without the Chief
Judge.

A reliable source said: “The truth is that the Deputy Governor
of Kogi State, Mr. Simon Achuba was purportedly removed behind
closed doors barely 30 minutes after a seven-man panel, set up by
the Chief Judge, submitted its report.

“The panel, headed by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. John
Bayelsa, said in clear terms that the Deputy Governor, Achuba, was
not guilty of all the allegations contained in the impeachment
notice of the House of Assembly. Therefore, there was no condition
precedent for the removal of Achuba.

“Assuming, but not conceding that the allegations were true, the
1999 Constitution allows a 14-day grace before any impeachment
proceedings can be initiated. The Assembly got a report within 30
minutes and sacked Achuba from office.

“Section 188 (8) and (9) of the constitution says: ‘Where the
Panel reports to the House of Assembly that the allegation has not
been proved, no further proceedings shall be taken in respect of
the matter.

“Where the report of the Panel is that the allegation against
the holder of the office has been proved, then within 14 days of
the receipt of the report, the House of Assembly shall consider the
report and if by a resolution of the House of Assembly, supported
by not less than two-thirds majority of all its members, the report
of the Panel is adopted; then the holder of the office shall stand
removed from office as from the date of the adoption of the
report.”

Another source said the illegality behind the removal of the
Deputy Governor accounted for the stalemate over the swearing in of
the new Deputy Governor.

The source added: “Up till now neither the House of Assembly nor
the state government has notified the Chief Judge of the state of
the removal of the Deputy Governor by the lawmakers.

“They are finding it difficult to prevail on the CJ, Justice
Nasiru Ajana to set machinery in motion to inaugurate the
purportedly nominated new Deputy Governor, Edward Onoja. They know
Ajana is a stickler to the law and he will abide by the report of
the panel he put in place.

“Some political forces in the state are now working on other
alternatives to administer oath of office and allegiance on
Onoja.

“They are considering using a judge of the State High Court, the
President of the Customary Court of Appeal if any in the state, a
judge from outside the state or a Chief Magistrate or any
magistrate.

“Most judges in the state have been distancing themselves from
the push to swear in Onoja. They do not want to be sanctioned by
the National Judicial Council (NJC) and ruin their career. We have
suspense everywhere.

“They are desperately looking for an amenable judge now to
inaugurate Onoja.”

Meanwhile, there were indications that members of the seven-man
panel, which cleared Deputy Governor Achuba, rejected inducement
from some influential forces in the state.

A source in the panel said: “They came with all manners of
inducement but we decided to be conscientious. We stuck to the
truth because the allegations against Achuba were not proven.

“All our allowances were not paid since we started the inquiry
based on our body language that we will not compromise.”

Culled from Thenation

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