Governor Murtala Nyako and his deputy James Bala Ngilari fled the Government House in Yola yesterday just as members of the State House of Assembly received the report of the seven-man panel that investigated the 20 charges of gross misconduct levelled against both men.

A report this morning in The Guardian quoted a source as saying that Nyako and Ngilari had taken their personal belongings out of the Government House.

“The governor, his deputy and their aides have taken away their personal belongings from Government House and some of them returned the official vehicles in their custody,” the source was quoted as saying.

“When The Guardian visited the Government House yesterday, there was no single official in any of the offices, only security operatives were seen,” the report said.

This came as the seven-man panel set up by the state Acting Chief Judge, Justice Ambrose Mammadi, to probe Nyako and Ngillari submitted its report to the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Alhaji Ahmed Umaru Fintri.

While submitting the report in Yola, the chairman of the panel, Alhaji Abubakar Kaigama, said that the committee gave the governor and his deputy the opportunity to appear and defend themselves, but they refused to honour the invitation.

“The panel invited the governor and the deputy governor twice, but they refused to come to the panel or send their representatives,” he said.

Kaigama said that the members of the panel had seen their assignment as a great opportunity to contribute their quota to the development of democracy in the country.

He said that the appointment of the panel was strictly in line with Section 188 sub-section [5] of the 1999 Constitution as amended. The report, according to Kaigama, is contained in four volumes.

While receiving the report, the Speaker of the house said that the members of the panel were selected by the acting chief judge of the state based on their personal integrity and their past records in their fields.

He said that the members of the assembly would meet during the house’s plenary session and take a decision on the report in the interest of democracy.

It was learnt that the lawmakers may reconvene from their recess for an emergency sitting today to deliberate on the panel’s report and take the last action on the allegations of gross misconduct levelled against the governor and his deputy.

•Photo shows embattled Governor Nyako.

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