Five state governors belonging to the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) have been penciled down by the Presidency for impeachment ahead of the 2015 general elections, the party’s National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, has alleged.

Lamenting the party’s ordeal at a press conference he addressed yesterday in Abuja, Odigie-Oyegun identified the targeted victims of impeachment as Murtala Nyako of Adamawa, Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa, Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers, Adams Oshiomhole of Edo and Kashim Shettima of Borno.

“As we speak, the Governor of Adamawa, Murtala Nyako, has been impeached at the instance of the President and his party, they have moved to Nasarawa, their next stop, while Rivers, Edo and Borno, all APC states, are not being spared the destabilization that precedes their new-found weapon,” Odigie-Oyegun said.

Stressing the allegation, the party chairman said: “President Jonathan’s desperation knows no bounds, and he is willing to set a record of presiding over the greatest number of impeachments under his tenure. Before Nyako’s impeachment on Tuesday, a total of five impeachments have been carried out in all of the 15 years of the Fourth Republic. But between now and 2015, President Jonathan is championing five impeachments, in Adamawa, Nasarawa, Edo, Rivers and Borno.”

Chief Odigie-Oyegun berated Jonathan, insisting that APC governors were being unjustifiably hounded by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) central government under his watch.

“What was Nyako impeached for?” he asked. “Offences he allegedly committed five years ago. Those offences were not impeachable when he was in the PDP. But the moment he decamped to the APC, they became impeachable.”

According to the APC National Chairman, “The entire ‘impeachment’ of Governor Nyako is so fraught with irregularities, bias, judicial contradictions and in violation of every procedural and constitutional provisions that it is the worst manifestation of impunity. We intend to mount an immediate and rigorous challenge to this gross injustice to the party and people of Adamawa State.

“What is Gov. Al-Makura of Nasarawa being threatened with impeachment for? Allegations of extra-budgetary expenditure, the same offence that President Jonathan has committed many times. In fact, on only on the 10th of July 2014, the Senate passed a resolution asking President Goodluck Jonathan to prepare and submit to the National Assembly supplementary budget to cover the over expenditure in the sum of N90.693 billion (US$585 billion) for PMS subsidy 2012 and the sum of N685.910 billion (US$4.430 billion) for Kerosene (DPK) subsidy expended without appropriation by the National Assembly in 2012 and 2013!

“In Adamawa, each member of the State House of Assembly was allegedly given US $300,000 as part payment to impeach Gov. Nyako; some 500 million Naira has allegedly been moved to Nasarawa to induce the state’s lawmakers to impeach Gov. Al-Makura, and in Edo, each lawmaker has allegedly been offered 75 million Naira to impeach Gov. Adams Oshiomhole.

Now, who is more guilty of gross misconduct than a President who is frittering away our commonwealth to induce perfidious legislators to impeach their state Governors? Who is more guilty of gross misconduct than a President who deploys troops to harass, intimidate and arrest the opposition during an election? Who deserves to be impeached for gross misconduct more than a President who uses national institutions against the opposition, and shuts airports arbitrarily?”

•Photo shows APC National Chairman Odigie-Oyegun.

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