It had been a long and tortuous journey to the exit route for Nyako, an ally of former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. He was a prominent member of the New Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP) that broke away from the larger body in August 2013 at the special mini-convention of the party held in Abuja.
The "rebels," precisely in November last year, formally declared for the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in what political analysts have termed the boldest move to wrest power from the PDP.
Shortly after settling down in his new party, the governor fired a salvo against President Goodluck Jonathan, when he accused the latter of not keeping to the terms of a one-term pact to which he appended his signature before he was allowed to contest in 2011. Nyako had warned Jonathan to honour terms and refrain from precipitating another civil war by deploying his foot soldiers to work towards re-election in 2015.
The governor, who only re-echoed an earlier sentiment on the same subject by his Niger State counterpart, Dr Aliyu Babangida, had been quoted to have said: "Leaders must be honest with their colleagues and the greater society. I have my craw craw from the first civil war and if there is the need to develop another craw craw in another civil war, I will stand by."
Coming weeks after Obasanjo's letter to Jonathan, in which the president was, among other weighty allegations, accused of not being faithful to his agreement to serve only for four years, the pro-Jonathan camp did not take Nyako's comments lying low. Flaks were directed at the retired Admiral from all corners.
When the tension generated in the wake of the one-term statement issued in January this year ebbed, Nyako shot another political goal with his widely circulated memo to the 19 northern governors, entitled "Ongoing Full-Fledged Genocide in Northern Nigeria."
In the letter, the governor not only described the Jonathan-led administration as corrupt, and incompetent, he also lashed out at the president for executing a deliberate genocide against the North, killing innocent citizens mindlessly and ascribing the atrocities to members of the deadly Boko Haram sect.
The strong-worded April 2014 memo appeared to be the last straw for Nyako, as his cup was said to have overflown in the reckoning of the powers-that-be. Within a matter of weeks, a counter-move against the "garrulous" and defiant governor was launched.
The rank of PDP lawmakers in the state House of Assembly swelled with the defection of lawmakers elected on the ticket of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) to the PDP in May. This made the entire 25-member assembly to be composed of PDP lawmakers.
The defection of opposition lawmakers to the PDP came after the congresses of the APC were concluded. The governor's leadership of the APC was affirmed at the end of the exercise, as the structure of the party was firmly in his grip. This had infuriated the lawmakers, whose fear of Nyako's move to install his son as his successor had been confirmed by the outcome of the congresses.
The internal wrangling in the party fuelled the grand plot by the establishment to deal a blow on Nyako. And with a politically monochromatic assembly in place, the stage was set for the removal of the governor through constitutional means.
Upon service of a notice of impeachment on him, Nyako saw the writing on the wall about his exit, but refused to be cowed into submission. He declared a two-day holiday to frustrate the plot against him through the panel of seven constituted by the state acting chief judge to investigate allegations of gross misconduct against him. But the plan did not succeed.
The panel, after having been disallowed entry into a hotel wherein its members had planned to sit, sat for just two days, Friday and Saturday. Neither the governor nor his deputy put up an appearance before the panel. The governor also did not send a lawyer to represent him as stated in the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
There were reports that the report submitted to the House by the panel indicted Nyako but exonerated his deputy, Ngilari. Following the adoption of the report by the lawmakers at their Monday plenary, Governor Nyako stood impeached and ceased to be governor of the state. His deputy was said to have resigned.
While it appeared the Adamawa assembly followed the process, the short-circuiting of the process seems suspect, especially the conclusion of the sitting within two days, when the constitution gives rooms for such exercise to be held within three months.
The speaker, Alhaji Umaru Fintiri, whose role in the whole saga has been that of a more-than-willing messenger, has immediately been sworn in as acting governor to act for three months before another election will be conducted to fill the position.
The speaker and Ngilari had shown more than passing interest in Nyako's job and with the resignation of the latter, obviously to avoid being disqualified from running in the yet-to-be fixed governorship election, the state may be heading for another episode in the clash of titans.
Ngilari had refused to defect to the APC with Nyako, a reason some observers say he may be favoured to fly the PDP's flag in the coming election. But will the speaker be content with the role of a "political executioner," having successfully prosecuted the removal of a stubborn fly that perched on the scrotum of the powers-that-be? Time will tell.
Thanks
