Adamawa PDP Moves to Block Bid to Suspend Council Chairman

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The Chief Joel Madaki-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Adamawa State supported by PDP National Chairman Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, has moved to halt the state government’s efforts to secure the state House of Assembly’s approval of the suspension of the Chairman of Guyuk Local Government Area, Ethan Bugie, by the state government for alleged insubordination.

The state Governor, Murtala Nyako, had sent a letter dated August 18, 2013, to the Assembly seeking the confirmation of the suspension of Bugie, citing Section 28 Subsection (2) of Adamawa State Local Government System, Establishment and Administration Law, as amended, which gives him the powers to suspend any local council chairman.

However, Madaki in his letter to the Assembly dated September 11, 2013, accused the governor of misrepresenting the legal provisions to justify his action.

He claimed that the section under consideration gives the governor powers to dissolve local council as a body and replace it with a management committee and not to suspend or remove a chairman and swear-in another person in acting capacity as the case of the chairman.

“The governor can dissolve or suspend a local council as a body. Upon dissolution, a management committee shall be appointed. That provision does not envisage the suspension of a local government chairman and in his place, the swearing-in of the vice-chairman as acting chairman. Any legislation that would confer such powers to suspend a council chairman will be in direct conflict with Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution as amended,” he stated.

Madaki explained that only the legislative arm of the council, that is elected councillors are empowered  by the constitution to impeach an elected chairman, “it is because of the need to guarantee or ensure the existence of democratically elected local government council that “this honourable House of Assembly deemed it fit to make provisions for impeachment under section 20 of the very law under consideration.”

He said there was no point  seeking any confirmation after the suspension had been effected and  advised the lawmakers to maintain their independence and considering the fact that the suspended chairman was never given a fair hearing, nor was he at any time given a query.

Madaki revealed that Nyako’s request lacks merit and should be throw out because there was a lot of illegalities if the matter is investigated thoroughly.

“There is actually nothing that reveals the nature of the insubordination complained of and the fact that even the said Mr. Bugie was sent a query,” he said.

Madaki said there was need to be worried as a political party under whose platform the embattled chairman emerged stressing that  Bugie was a subject of political manipulation as all the procedures engrossed were faulty

While responding on the pending issued, the Chairman of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs Committee in the assembly, Usman Lamorde, said he had just returned from Hajj and could not comment on a sensitive matter as such until he checked out some facts about the progress made while he was in Saudi Arabia.

In the same vein, the Press Secretary to the Speaker of assembly, Mr. Solomon Kumanga, confirmed the receipt of the letter, adding that the matter was read on the floor of the assembly and was immediately referred to the assembly’s Committee on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.

Also, the member representing Guyuk Constituency, Mrs Wilbina Jackson, who is also a member of the committee, said the matter was receiving the attention of the committee, while investigation was ongoing.

She also stated that as a lawmaker representing Guyuk area, she had course to discuss the matter with the embattled chairman, who maintained his innocence and blamed political godfathers for plotting his ouster.

However, the embattled chairman had alongside six of his councillors dumped the Alhaji Mijinyawa Kugama-led faction, which is loyal to the state Governor, Murtala Nyako, for the Madaki faction over alleged injustice, highhandedness and imposition of Nyako faction current known as the new PDP in the country.

Bugie told journalists in Yola, that he has not received any query or letter of suspension from the Nyako led government but he blame the suspension on the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Kobis Ari-Thinmu, who is his kinsman and using his influence to exert changes in the local government because he refused to serve his selfish political ends.

“There was no any letter from the governor indicting me of misappropriation or whatever, up till now I have not also received any letter that I am suspended from anybody, I only saw the letter of my suspension in the hand of the DPO. The SSG is behind it because he insisted that I must impress on my councillors to rescind a change in their leadership when the elected a new leader and they stood by the decision despite his threat to ensure dissolution of the council,” he lamented.