A Federal High Court, Abuja, on Wednesday sacked the acting governor of Adamawa State, Umaru Fintiri and ordered the swearing in of the former Deputy Governor Bala Ngilari as the Adamawa State governor.
The trial Judge, Justice Ademola Adeniyi made the order while delivering judgment on Wednesday, in the a brought before it by the immediate past Adamawa State Deputy Governor Bala Ngilari.
Ngilari had prayed the court to order that he should be to sworn in as the substantive governor of the state following the impeachment of Governor Murtala Nyako on July 15, 2014.
The court also stopped the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from conducting the Saturday bye-election into the governorship position of the state.
Justice Adeniyi held in the judgment that Ngilari did not resign in accordance with Section 306 (1) (2) and (5) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and added also that Ngilari’s purpoted resignation is not recognised in the face of the law.
The Judge declared Fintiri’s occupation of the governor’s office as illegal and ordered the State’s Chief Judge or President of the Customary Court of Appeal to swear in Ngilari with immediate effect.
Justice Adeniyi further said that the swearing of the Speaker of the State House of Assembly as Acting Governor of the state is illegal and unconstitutional, adding that the legislators failed to prove to the court that Ngilari resigned.
“In the light of the above, when a substantive governor is impeached, the deputy governor takes over,” he held and ordered that Murtala Nyako’s deputy to be sworn as the governor of Adamawa state.
Ngilari had, in his suit, held that he did not resign his office as Deputy Governor of the state and that the court should declare unconstitutional, null and void the declaration of his office vacant by the Adamawa State House of Assembly.
It would be recalled that the Speaker of the Adamawa House of Assembly, Umaru Fintiri, had shortly before Nyako’s impeachment informed the lawmakers that Ngilari had sent in his resignation letter to the State House Assembly.
The resignation letter was read at plenary by the Speaker, after which the lawmakers approved it.
After his impeachment, Nyako issued a statement saying that the letter written by his deputy was of no consequence because the constitutional
stipulation is that the deputy should have written to him as governor.
stipulation is that the deputy should have written to him as governor.
According to Nyako, the purported resignation was a breach of Section 306 (5) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“As at the time the supposed resignation was said to have been tendered in the House, Murtala H. Nyako was the Governor of Adamawa State. No such letter was written to him, none was received by him and none was approved by him.
“It should therefore be known that in the eyes of the Law, the Deputy Governor has not resigned. Barr Bala James Ngilari is still the Deputy Governor of Adamawa State. This clarification is necessary to avert another subversion of the Constitution since the other processes relating to the impeachment saga have all been in contravention of the Constitution and the Law,” he said.
TribuneNg
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