Impeachment: Panel dismisses charges against Al-Makura

The seven-member panel that investigated allegations of gross misconduct against Governor Umaru Al-Makura of Nasarawa State has dismissed all the charges brought against him by the state House of Assembly.

The panel, which had listened to Al-Makura on Monday and the legal representation of the House of Assembly on Tuesday dismissed the 16 charges against the governor.

It said the House of Assembly did not provide any evidence to back up its allegations against the governor.

Six Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) had stood in for Al-Makura. The state Assembly had on Monday declared the inauguration of the panel by the chief judge, Suleiman Dikko, as unconstitutional, saying it would stay away from the probe.

But on Tuesday, the Assembly sent a legal team led by Ocha Ulegede to represent it before the panel. The other members of the Assembly’s legal team were John Mathew, P. A. Daffi, Steven Idikwu, Ache Obande and Abraham Aruta.

The legal team said the panel was breaching the Nigerian constitution.

Ulegede then presented a protest letter written by the legislators and argued that some members of the panel were also members of a political party and that their appointments negated the provision of Section 188 in the composition of the panel.

He said that the provision did not give the chief judge absolute power to appoint members of the panel.

The legal team said the panel had no right to set guidelines for the conduct of the sitting.

“Section 188 of the constitution spelt out clearly how the panel should be composed. They are three fundamental issues among which is that member of the panel cannot be a card carrying member of a political party. They cannot hold government appointment and that the panel does not have the power to set the rules of proceeding guiding the sitting”.