- Withdraw letter alerting Nigerians on Genocide and apologize
July 9, 2014
By Abusidiqu
The presidency yesterday reportedly gave some conditions with which the embattled governor of Adamawa State, Murtala Nyako will be staved off the axe of impeachment hanging over his head.
The condition was said to have been given by the presidency following the last minute spirited efforts by two former heads of state to save Nyako from an impending impeachment.
The two former leaders, whose names were not stated, went with governor Nyako, who had worked closely with them at different times, to plead with President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday night to save the governor from being disgraced out of office.
It was learnt that at the meeting, the former leaders drew the attention of the presidency to the heightening ethno-religious tension that was building in Adamawa as a result of the move to oust the governor and the implications for the worsening security crisis in the North-East.
The two former leaders, who were in Abuja ahead of the Council of States meeting, which took place yesterday, reportedly impressed it upon President Jonathan that nothing should be done to escalate the violence in the region.
But a source close to the meeting said that the President explained to the two leaders that he had no hand in the move to impeach the governor.
A source close to the president said the president upbraided Nyako for the insults he heaped on him in an offensive letter the governor wrote two months ago to his northern states counterparts, accusing the president of committing genocide in the north in the name of fighting Boko Haram.
But apparently to appease the former leaders, the Presidency was said to have told them that Nyako must first withdraw the inciting letter he wrote to the northern governors early this year and publicly apologise to Jonathan and Nigerians as a condition for intervening in the impeachment process.
However, an unrepentant Nyako was said to have stood his ground that he would rather go down than recant on the contents of the said letter, which sparked outrage when it was made public.
A source close to Nyako confirmed, yesterday, that the peace parley was deadlocked as a result of the governor’s refusal to disown the controversial letter and apologise to Jonathan.
“At that point, the governor is willing to step down rather than recant the content of the letter in question,” a loyalist of Nyako said.
“It is true that the meeting got deadlocked at that point but another round of discussions was slated for Tuesday night (last night) but we cannot say whether the outcome will change anything,” the governor’s friend added.