impeachment and re-instatements a case study of SANI ABUBAKAR DANLADI.
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Garba Gadi: The Thorny Road to Victory
10 Jul 2010
The travails of Alhaji Garba Gadi have seldom been out of the news since the court restored him as Deputy Governor of Bauchi State about a fortnight ago. Segun Awofadeji, in Bauchi, traces the difficulties experienced by the deputy governor in the attempt to enforce his victory
Court-reinstated Deputy Governor of Bauchi State, Alhaji Muhammad Garba Gadi, finally resumed his place at Government House, Bauchi, on Wednesday. After more than two weeks of uncertainty, Gadi resumed his place at the Deputy Governor’s office and pledged to support and co-operate with his boss, who was widely suspected to have masterminded his ouster last year, Governor Isa Yuguda.
The state Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Danlami Yar’adua, also told newsmen in Bauchi concerning the deputy governor, “We have restored all his security aides, including the full police escort, based on the advice of the Force Legal Department, which has studied the development.”
Developments following the order by a Bauchi State High Court on June 25 reinstating Gadi to office of Deputy Governor had been quite tricky.
Penultimate Monday, in a dramatic move, reinstated Gadi tried to force his return to the position he was removed from on August 13 last year. He wanted to enforce the order by a Bauchi State High Court that declared his impeachment as unconstitutional, null, and void.
However, he was barred from entering his office by armed policemen who were stationed at the entrance of the office complex. He was told by the cops that they had orders not to allow him enter the office.
Garba Gadi, as he is fondly called, had been impeached as deputy governor on August 13, 2009 by the House of Assembly in controversial circumstances. This was after he declined to follow his boss, Yuguda, to dump All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), the platform they both rode to power on May 29, 2007, for Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
But the court, presided over by Justice Haruna Tsammani, ordered that Gadi be reinstated with immediate effect and paid all his financial emoluments from the date he was removed from office to the date his ouster was declared unconstitutional. The court also held that the seven-man panel constituted to investigate the allegations against the deputy governor did not give him the benefit of fair hearing before removing him from office. The judge ordered that the man who had replaced Gadi as Deputy Governor, Mr. Babayo Garba Gamawa, should vacate his position for Gadi
The judge held, “The removal of the plaintiff from office by the Bauchi State House of Assembly on the 13th August of 2009 based on the recommendation or report of the seven-man panel when the matter was still pending in court is unconstitutional and, therefore, null and void. I hereby order that Hon. Babayo Garba Gamawa vacate the office of the Deputy Governor of Bauchi State forthwith, and order that Alhaji Garba Muhammed Gadi be reinstated to the office of the Deputy Governor of Bauchi State forthwith. I also hereby order that the governor of Bauchi State pay to the plaintiff all his financial emoluments from the date of his removal from office as the Deputy Governor of Bauchi State, that is 13th of August, till his reinstatement as the Deputy Governor of Bauchi State.”
Gadi, a foundation member of the then All Peoples Party (APP) – now ANPP – from Azare Local Government Area of the state, contested the Bauchi North senatorial seat in 1999 and 2003 but lost and was said to be on the verge of taking another shot at the senatorial seat when the party elders, reportedly, asked him to be Yuguda’s running mate following the latter’s adoption as the party’s standard-bearer in the 2007 governorship election. Gadi was said to have consolidated his position by reaching out to the grassroots, a development his governor later found uncomfortable.
At the beginning of their political journey, Yuguda and Gadi were called men of destiny. They had achieved the rare feat of winning election in a state then ruled by another political party, PDP. Their victory at the poll was described as unprecedented. They proved bookmakers wrong.
The journey started well. The governor entrusted Gadi with much responsibility. The deputy governor was assigned Ministry of Land and Survey to oversee. Again, he was asked to oversee the Ministry of Science and Technology pending the appointment of a commissioner.
Gadi performed his assigned duties to the admiration of stakeholders. He was the de facto governor having on several occasions acted as the governor. Suddenly, the honey moon between the governor and his deputy was over. This was basically due to the defection of the governor to his former party, PDP, a party he had helped to form.
With the change of political party, many stakeholders expected the deputy governor to follow his boss to his new party. But not Gadi; he told newsmen that it would be a disservice to the electorate for him to switch political camp without consulting them. He said, “I am taking my time to consult relevant stakeholders with a view to making my decision known.”
One of the indications of political disagreement between the governor and his deputy was Gadi’s conspicuous absence when Yuguda publicly declared for PDP at the party’s secretariat, along Maiduguri Road bypass. Also absent were Speaker of the House of Assembly and some legislators. But it was Gadi’s absence that pundits saw as a sign of future political crisis. Gradually, events started to unfold in a very dramatic manner.
When then President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua visited Bauchi to officially present the PDP flag to Yuguda after his defection, many stakeholders expected Gadi to join the crowd that came to welcome the president. Gadi was again absent, both at the airport reception and at the main events at Ibrahim Babaginda Square, venue of the flag presentation.
Soon after Yar’Adua’s visit, it was widely rumoured that the House of Assembly was planning to impeach the deputy governor. What started as mere speculation rapidly came into reality. Twenty five members of the House of Assembly signed an impeachment notice against the deputy governor. To further demonstrate the seriousness of their action, the Chief Judge, Justice Suleiman Darazo, swore in a seven-member panel to investigate the allegations against the deputy governor.
The allegations against Gadi included that while he was in the Holy Land to perform a religious obligation, he collected double estacode. He was also accused of spending N500, 000 of public money to fund a private football tournament. In addition, he was accused of approving contracts above his financial limits and misappropriating funds while serving as a Commissioner for Land and Survey.
Many reasoned at the time that the best option for the deputy governor was to join his boss or resign from his office. Gadi, however, felt resigning would amount to admission of guilt. He described the allegations against him as spurious, saying he had worked for several years as civil servant and had never been found wanting.
In his 11-page response to the charges against him, Gadi, among other things, told the House of Assembly that he did not collect different estacodes during the 2008 Hajj operations as alleged. He said he had applied to the governor, stating his desire to attend the Hajj with my wife and two aides and his request was duly approved by the governor on November 17, 2008.
Gadi told the Assembly that US$33,000 was meant for his estacode, his wife and two aides for the two weeks duration while N2.480 million was for air tickets through international routes. These were all duly approved by the governor, Gadi said.
He said N2,204,900 was approved on December 15, 2008 to cover travel expenses for him, his family members, and the entourage that received him at the airports, including costs of local air tickets.
Gadi told the lawmakers that the conditional approval given to the Ministry of Cooperative and Poverty Alleviation was granted in the best interest of the people. He added that it was during one of the governor’s frequent trips outside the state or the country that he gave approval to the Ministry of Education for the renovation of their Account Section for N8, 261,041 on March 3, 2008.
Gadi added that the approval of N105,850,000.00 for retraining of Mathematics and Science teachers totaling 100 from Secondary Schools was done in the governor’s absence and it was done to aid educational development of the state. He explained that it was made in the understanding that the state government had already given approval for the Abuja based Mathematical Centre to carry out some activities in the state.
Gadi disclosed that the state government had earlier granted approval and paid the National Mathematical Centre N10 million for Mathematical Improvement Project (MIP) in February, 2008 while another N15 million was paid for 10 whiz teachers to the centre.
On the allegations that he sponsored a football tournament in his name using public fund, Gadi explained that the “approval granted for the release of the sum of Five Hundred Thousand (N500, 000.00) for the Deputy Governor’s Cup was also in the best interest of sporting activities in the state.” He told the lawmakers that the competition was not new, as it started during the late Tatari Ali era.
Meanwhile, the House of Assembly dissolved the committee set up by the chief judge, stating that that the matter in question was never discussed on the floor of the Assembly. Majority Leader of the House, Dayyabu Chiroma, noted that until the impeachment matter was discussed in the Assembly, any committee to that effect was illegal. He, however, stated that at the appropriate time, the chief judge would be asked to constitute another committee.
As the impeachment drama unfolded, and with the defection of 17 members of the Assembly to PDP, to make a total of 25 PDP members in the 31-member legislature, it was certain that the mission of the Assembly would be accomplished in a matter of days. Not because Gadi had committed any impeachable offence, but basically because he did not follow his boss to his new party.
Investigations revealed that when the idea to impeach Gadi was first suggested to some legislators, they had argued that there was nothing tangible enough to hold against him. Later, Gadi told reporters that N10 million bribes had been given to each member of the Assembly to have him impeached.
As the troubles of the deputy governor continued, his lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, complained loudly about what he termed infringements on Gadi’s fundamental rights of association.
Falana, in a letter to Yar’Adua, stated, “Our client’s position cannot be faulted in the light of the case of Federal Electoral Commission v. Alhaji Mohammed Goni (1983) 2 SCNLR 227, where the Supreme Court condemned cross-carpeting by political office holders, which had bedeviled the political morality of the country. Having just forwarded a bill to the National Assembly aimed at banning cross-carpeting by elected political leaders, we have no doubt that you will restrain Governor Yuguda from further instigating the Bauchi State House of Assembly to remove our client from office for his principled stand which is anchored on political morality.”
But the Assembly went ahead to impeach Gadi. The motion for the impeachment was moved by the Majority Leader, Dayabu Chiroma, and supported by 24 others. Six lawmakers abstained.
However, before the impeachment, soon after the state chief judge constituted a panel to investigate him, Gadi went to the state High Court to challenge the panel’s composition but the application was refused. In a short ruling, Justice Ibrahim Zango held that a member of the panel that was a card carrying member of Democratic Peoples’ Party (DPP) should be replaced. Gadi appealed to the Court of Appeal in Jos.
The deputy governor, through his counsel, wrote a letter to the state Chief Judge, Suleiman Darazo, stating that he had appealed the ruling and that the case was pending at the Court of Appeal. But the judge went ahead and swore in another person to replace the DPP member. The panel then investigated and recommended Gadi’s sack on the same day the sitting was held.
Gadi said the panel sat on August 11, 2008, called six witnesses, admitted six exhibits, and concluded investigations without giving him a fair hearing.
Another drama was added to the whole scenario penultimate Monday when, emboldened by Tsammani’s judgement, Gadi stormed his former office to personally execute the court order reinstating him to the position of Deputy Governor. Reports had it that by 6.50 am that Monday, Gadi, accompanied by his supporters amid tight security, had gotten to the Deputy Governor’s office. The deputy governor, who rode to his office premises, along Yakubu Bauchi Street, in a brown Toyota Camry salon car, left the office at 4 pm amid tight security.
His resumption triggered a clash between ANPP supporters and those of Gamawa, who was asked by the court to vacate the office.
Speaking to Journalists shortly after he was barred from entering his office, Gadi said, “I was in the office exactly 8 am but met some policemen who refused to open the gate, but they greeted me. So I told them that I am the deputy governor coming to office, they told me they are aware but the Commissioner of Police asked them not to open the gate but I should go and see him.
“I believe as far as I am the second citizen in the state, I should be given the due respect, even if he needed to see me or he has anything to advise, he should come to my house and advise.”
When asked if he sent anybody to the police commissioner, he said, “What I did was to go to his superior officer, the AIG and report to him so that the appropriate action could be taken.”
On the alleged refusal by the police to provide him official security, Gadi said he took the court order to the Commissioner of Police immediately the court ordered his reinstatement. “I told him I needed normal security protection which he gave me, two plain clothes and then two gate armed policemen to take care of my security, before he gets an order from above.”
Gadi frowned on the statement credited to the Attorney General and Commissioner for justice, Al- Mustapha Hassan, that his resumption was illegal, saying it is unfortunate.
However, the Commissioner of Police, Yar’Adua, denied giving orders to his men to deny Gadi access to office. He said, “I did not tell anybody to tell him to come and see me. If I want to see him, I can see him anywhere. The policemen he met there are the normal guard men on duty and some are escorts to the other deputy governor, Babayo Gamawa, but nobody gave directives to stop Gadi from entering.
“He came to me on Friday (July 2) with the notice of his reinstatement, then I told him I have not received any notice from court but I told him that I will go to Abuja to brief the IG. I was in Abuja for an advice from above so I am still waiting to hear from them.”
Yar’Adua said he did not restore Gadi’s full escort but only gave him two plain cloth policemen and two uniform men to guard his house. “The provision of the law must be maintained. All we want in the state is peace, we don’t want a situation where people will be killed unnecessarily, the best thing is for the two contenders to sit down and decide what to do so that we can have peace in the state.”
He said “a peace meeting” had been held between “the two contending parties with security operatives and they agreed to maintain peace during the meeting so none of them should go to the office for now in order to maintain peace.”
Reacting, the counsel to Gadi, Ado Dauda, said the position of the court was that filing an appeal against a judgement or filing for a stay of execution are not enough to stay the execution of a court order.
However, counsel to the House of Assembly, Mr. Muktar Abubakar Usman, said he had served Gadi the notice of appeal and motion on notice praying for stay of execution of the judgement.
He said, “In law, by virtue of the Supreme Court judgement , when a litigant files an appeal against a judgement and also files a motion for stay of execution, whether at the lower court or at the Court of Appeal, as we did in our own case, the judgement cannot be executed. The filing of the motion of stay of execution is an automatic stay of the execution of the judgement pending the determination of that motion for stay of execution and if the motion of stay of execution is determined in favour of the applicant, the order will now last pending the determination of the appeal filled.
“Now, the impeached deputy governor, who now intruded into his office, actually did what we call criminal trespass because there is already a stay of execution by virtue of filing that motion and serving same on him.”
That was before Wednesday, when the twists and turns on Gadi’s judicial victory ended and he was restored to his position as deputy governor.
Gadi has said he would cooperate with Yuguda as far as good governance of Bauchi State is concerned, but he would not follow the governor to PDP.
He told newsmen shortly after taking his place at the Deputy Governor’s office Wednesday, “Even before the impeachment saga, there was no any quarrel between the governor and I and nobody will say that I connived with others to cheat the government in my capacity as the deputy governor or Garba Gadi. I did my schedules as directed by the governor, based on the provisions of the constitution.
“In as much as I will cooperate with the governor and government, I will not decamp to the ruling PDP, which was the point of our disagreement initially. I will remain in ANPP and do my work as directed. I will attend all government public functions as well as the exco and other meetings, but I will not attend any political meeting other than the one organised by my party, ANPP.”
On whether or not he would contest the next governorship election, Gadi said, “If it is the collective wish of the people of the state, then, I will contest the governorship come 2011.”
Meanwhile, National Secretary of ANPP, Senator Saidu Umar Kumo, has applauded the judiciary for reinstating the deputy governor, describing the judgement as a giant effort toward protecting the nascent democracy in the country. In an interview in Gombe, he said Gamawa had been forcefully enthroned by the state government after the substantive deputy governor was illegally impeached.
The State High Court has adjourned to July 16 for definite hearing on the suit filed by the state government on the reinstatement of Gadi.
Many believe, though, the court has restored Gadi to the deputy governorship seat, it remains to be seen if cordial relations would be re-established between him and his bo
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