A Court of Appeal sitting in Yola has nullified the impeachment of Murtala Nyako as governor of Adamawa State.
The former governor was impeached on July 15, 2014, after 17 of 25 members of the Adamawa State House of Assembly adopted a report of a panel set up to investigate him for alleged corruption.
The report found the governor guilty of all the 16 allegations of gross misconduct and abuse of office.
But in its Thursday’s ruling, the Court of Appeal ruled that the impeachment proceedings were not done in accordance with the provisions of the law.
In the lead judgment read by Justice Tunde Ayotoye, all the judges unanimously agreed that Nyako was not given fair hearing before his removal.
The judges said that the governor’s right was violated and declared all the process that led to the impeachment null and void.
While holding that his tenure had elapsed since May 2015, the court however ordered that Nyako be accorded all right of the office of the governor of Adamawa State through the period of office, and be paid all his entitlement as governor of the state while it lasted.
The Court accused the executive and legislative arms of government in the state of displaying “impunity and arrogance” in setting up a panel to investigate Nyako despite a court order stopping them from doing so.
