Former Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State has debunked the allegation of stealing N82 billion levelled against him by the acting governor of the state, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri.

Nyako said the action of the incumbent government of the state had shown its level of desperation to come to power.

This came as the state government yesterday disclosed that the figures released by the governor to the public against Nyako were arrived at after series of meetings with the former governor’s bankers from whence he picked his financial adviser, who himself is now a frequent guest of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

But the former governor who spoke through a statement signed by his spokesman, Mallam Ahmed Sajoh, and made available to journalists in Yola, said the recent treatment meted against him was a proof of the fact that those behind his illegal impeachment were not tired as they were hell bent on punishing him for exposing their fallacies.

The statement read in part: “The framers of the 1999 Constitution did not foresee that the provisions of the document will be abused in the manner of a coup d’état as was done in the illegal impeachment of Nyako. And like coupists, the perpetrators of the act have adopted the same modalities of reeling out false and bogus figures (to justify the) forceful removal of bonafide office holders and intimidating those who refuse to succumb to their strong arm tactics.

“To say Nyako left a liability of N82 billion is to say the least ridiculous. How much did the state get as income over the period? It is not even half of the amount quoted. What role did the state House of Assembly play in accumulating such a huge debt profile?

“How much alarm was ever raised by the House of Assembly through oversight functions over the budgetary process all these years?

“The 2012 budget of the state was presented to the House of Assembly by the Speaker who is now the acting governor and nowhere was such an alarm raised as to the absence of projects or a litany of liabilities.”

Sajoh added that the whole drama including the planned probe was part of a grand script written with the intention of justifying the illegalities involved in the impeachment process and to also malign Nyako as well as set the public against him.

“They believe their legitimacy depends entirely on discrediting Nyako. We wish to state categorically that we do not expect a fair, just and credible enquiry from a group that has no respect for constitutional provisions or the pronouncements of a competent court of law.

“The process will be carried out in the same manner the illegal impeachment process went. Everything was done hurriedly within a short period that made mockery of the whole process. Yet bogus and voluminous reports were produced laying credence to the fact that whole process was choreographed.

“We know they have equally done the same with the so called probe. We do not expect an honest enquiry so we are not worried about the likely unjust outcome. But like we said earlier, there are three judgments to which we all will be subjected to. There is the judgment of man; the judgment of history and the ultimate judgment of God Almighty.

“Those who feel power drunk have always passed judgment on men which was upturned by history and by God.

“President Olusegun Obasanjo was judged wrongly by powerful men but vindicated by history and ultimately by God who made him president over his traducers. Ayo Fayose was at one time impeached and maligned. Today he is a governor-elect. There are several similar cases in the history of mankind.

“Conversely, powerful people who wield unwholesome power have been humbled by history and God who holds the ultimate power. We do not expect a different outcome in this case.

“We say with all sense of responsibility that the statement made on the liabilities of N82 billion is not correct and represents another attempt to malign Nyako. We also reiterate that the probe process will not be fair, just or honest. We are therefore not perturbed by the likely outcome. We shall carry on with our court cases challenging the illegal impeachment believing that the judiciary will definitely overturn the illegalities of the process.”

However, in a statement signed by the adviser to Fintiri on media, Alhaji Babayola Toungo, and made available to journalists, the state government, he said inasmuch as it would not want to join issues with the officials of the past administration, it was forced by the puerile attempt of Sajoh to curry the sympathy of the gullible in an underhand manner, by attempting to play the victim.

“It is our belief that the people can discern right from wrong and should know who deserves their sympathy and who doesn’t,” the statement said.

“The state broadcast by Fintiri, which elicited Sajoh’s umbrage, was based on facts and figures and not figment of anybody’s imagination. The figures released by him to the public were arrived at after series of meetings with Nyako’s bankers from whence he picked his financial adviser, who himself is now a frequent guest of the EFCC.

“We have been told that Nyako was a fantastic navigator in the navy and we don’t doubt that. But he proved to be a woeful navigator of statecraft, who foisted an implacable kleptocracy on the state. He was advised of an impending collusion with a giant iceberg six thousand nautical miles before impact, yet he steered the Adamawa ship to collide with the iceberg head-on. This is not surprising considering the kind of crew he had on board, egging him on,” it said.

•Text courtesy of THISDAY. Photo shows former governor Nyako.