Inspite came for Governor Samuel Ortom
of Benue State Wednesday after the Makurdi High Court presided by
Justice Theresa Igoche restrained the eight suspended members of the
state House of Assembly from proceeding with the impeachment process
they initiated against him......
Also Wednesday, the National Working
Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rejected the
purported impeachment plot mooted by eight out of 30 members of the
state assembly, describing it as evil and illegal.
But Governor Ortom had very harsh words
for President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC)
for waging a witch-hunt against him following the allegations levelled
against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) that
he was involved in a N22 billion security vote diversion, urging the
anti-graft agency to rather beam its searchlight on the presidency over
its security vote spending.
Eight of 30 members of the Benue State
House of Assembly who are currently on suspension, had last Monday
attempted to commence impeachment proceedings against Governor Ortom.
But Justice Igoche has restrained them from proceeding with the impeachment process they initiated against him.
The judge also restrained them from sitting and upheld their suspension, pending the determination of the motion on notice.
“I agree with the Senior Advocate of
Nigeria that the applicants have made out a case for the grant of orders
sought therein,” she stressed.
“The order also restrains the Chief
Judge of Benue State from receiving or acting on any process or request,
issued pursuant to the purported sitting, proceedings and resolutions
of July 30, 2018, aimed at or commenced for the purpose of removing the
governor of the state pending the determination of the motion on
notice.”
Justice Igoche upheld the subsisting
order that was earlier given by the Chief Judge of the state, Justice
Adam Onum, restraining the former Speaker, Terkimbi Ikyange, and other
former principal officers from parading as same and ordered the security
agencies to vacate the premises of the state House of Assembly.
Responding, the state’s Attorney General
and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Michael Gusa, applauded the ruling,
saying as a law abiding government, they will always seek redress in the
law courts.
Also speaking, Sebastian Hon (SAN), who
appeared on behalf of the plaintiffs alongside 30 lawyers, described the
ruling as sound and promised to abide by the orders of the court to
ensure service and continue with the case.
The Speaker of the assembly, Hon. Titus
Uba, said with the order, they expect the police and other security
agencies to vacate the premises and stop interfering in their
legislative business, maintaining that even the president of the country
has denied link to the continued occupation of the assembly complex.
The applicants had on July 31,
approached the court, seeking eight reliefs amongst which were an
interim order restraining the eight members from sitting, proceeding and
or acting in furtherance to the impeachment and the chief judge from
acting on their request.
However, the National Working
Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Wednesday rejected
the purported impeachment plot mooted by eight out of 30 members of the
state assembly, describing it as evil and illegal.
The National Chairman of the PDP,
Prince Uche Secondus, stated this when he led a high-powered delegation
of members of the National Working Committee (NWC) and three governors
from the party on a solidarity visit to Governor Ortom over the crisis
rocking the state.
The three governors are Seriake Dickson
(Bayelsa), his Taraba State counterpart Darius Ishaku and Ibrahim Hassan
Dankwambo of Gombe State, as well as Senator Ben Bruce.
Secondus, who commended Ortom for his
courage and determination to defect to the PDP, said it was indeed
uncalled for, for the minority in the assembly to serve the governor or
any other state governor in the country an impeachment notice.
He pointedly accused the federal government of being instrumental to the problem confronting Benue State.
He said: “We members of the NWC of the
PDP have rejected the impeachment plot against Governor Ortom; it is
evil and illegal for minorities to serve the governor of any state of
the federation with an impeachment notice.
“We are aware that the powers-that-be in
Abuja are behind what is happening in Benue State. The same
powers-that-be claimed ignorance of the killings in Benue when herdsmen
invaded, attacked and killed many people including two Catholic priests
and 17 parishioners inside the church.”
Secondus reiterated the full support of
his party to the Ortom administration and commended the new Speaker of
the assembly for his mature conduct of activities.
The PDP national chairman who called on
people of the state and Nigerians at large to reject the ruling party
during the 2019 general election, tasked the Buhari administration to
stop the ongoing killings across the country, and further appealed to
the people to remain resolute and supportive of the present
administration to enable him attract dividends of democracy to them.
The Bayelsa State Governor Dickson, who
also spoke during the visit, stressed the need for democracy and the
legislative arm of government to be accorded adequate respect and
allowed to freely function optimally in accordance with the laws of the
land.
Dickson enjoined the teeming supporters
of the PDP in the state to continue to stand by the governor despite the
persecution he is passing through and lauded the Speaker of the
assembly for steering the affairs of the house peacefully.
In a response, Governor Ortom commended
the NWC of the PDP for the visit and assured them that Benue would
remain a PDP state, saying he only made a journey to the ruling APC but
that he was now back.
He described Benue as a no-go area for the APC.
Ortom promised to work closely with his
predecessor, Dr. Gabriel Suswam, Senator David Mark and Dr. Iyorchia Ayu
to ensure the victory of the party at both ward, state and national
levels.
The governor noted that he was being
persecuted by the APC in the state for enacting the grazing law and for
defecting from the APC to PDP.
He maintained that he would never be deterred despite the intimidation.
Earlier Wednesday, Governor Ortom
had chided President Buhari and the APC for waging a witch-hunt against
him following the allegations levelled against him by the EFCC that he
was involved in a N22 billion security vote diversion.
The governor, who denied the allegation,
said the agency should rather beam its searchlight on the presidency
over its security vote spending.
The governor while briefing journalists
shortly after a state broadcast in Makurdi, the state capital, wondered
why he should be singled out among all the governors in the country for
such probe.
He advised the anti-graft agency to begin the probe from the presidency.
“So far, I am the only governor in
Nigeria whose security vote is being investigated by the EFCC. Why
should Benue case be different if not persecution?
“If the EFCC wanted a genuine
investigation of security vote spending, they should have started from
the presidency right across the 36 states.
“If their focus was on Benue State, they
should have started from 1999 when Senator George Akume was governor.
But this is not the case. I want the whole world to know that all this
is about persecution and a clear case of witch-hunting,” Ortom said.
He referred to the comments made by the
presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, during an interview on Channels
Television where he was quoted as saying: “I doubt the world over if any
government would come to say this is how much we have spent on
security, because can you quantify the amount of one life? It is not
something that any government will begin to disclose.
“Why should Benue case be different if
not persecution? If the EFCC wanted a genuine investigation of security
vote spending, they should have started from the presidency right across
the 36 states. If their focus was on Benue State, they should have
started from 1999. But this is not the case. With the enormous security
challenges in the state since my assumption of office, it is surprising
that any one would expect me to do nothing but keep the security vote in
the safe.
“The security vote spending being
investigated spans from 2015 to 2018, a period of grave security
challenges in the state. I reiterate that the investigation is a clear
case of persecution. I have not misappropriated, diverted or stolen any
money. I have nothing to hide. I assure that the investigators can find
nothing incriminating against me,” he added.
Ortom acknowledged that the biggest
challenge facing his administration is the payment of salaries, noting
that it was caused because of the N69 billion inherited as arrears of
salaries, pensions and gratuities as well as another N70 billion
commitment on contracts and other obligations.
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