You can’t direct CJ to sack probe panel •Nasarawa govt, APC tell lawmakers

NASARAWA State government, on Thursday, described as illegal, unconstitutional, null, void and of no effect whatsoever, the sitting of pro-impeachment lawmakers in Karu Local Government Area of the state, in which the state Chief Judge, Justice Suleiman Dikko, was directed to disband the seven-man probe panel inaugurated last Friday to investigate gross misconduct levelled against Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura. In an eight-paragraph press statement read before the newsmen by the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the governor on Public Affairs, Honourable Abdulhamid Kwarra, in Lafia, the state capital, the government urged the people to disregard the purported resolution of the House. According to the statement, “we note with dismay that the Nasarawa State House of Assembly will probate and re-probate on a matter that is before the state Chief Judge. This is probably because the House is beginning to discover the futility of their action and will, therefore, do anything to scuttle the process. “Regrettably, however, the sitting is in total violation of all relevant laws, more so that the governor has given his word as a man of integrity and believer in the rule of law to appear before the investigation panel even though he was not served with the impeachment notice. “Should members of the House of Assembly be aggrieved with the compliance of the Chief Judge of the state to the provision of 188 sub-section five, the right thing to do is for the house to go to court of law to challenge the composition of the investigative panel,” the statement added. Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress (APC), on Thursday, declared as unconstitutional the resolution of the Nasarawa House of Assembly seeking the dissolution of the panel set up by the state chief judge to probe the alleged misconduct of Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura. In a statement issued in Abuja by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the demand by the lawmakers showed they either had a very poor understanding of the constitution or they were blinded by their desperation to impeach Governor Al-Makura. It will be recalled that the speaker, Honourable Ahmed Musa, on Wednesday, directed the state Chief Judge, Justice Dikko to disband the probe panel, following the petition received from the Concerned Citizens of Nasarawa that majority of the members are people of questionable character.