The impeached governor of Adamawa State, Rear Admiral Murtala Nyako (retd) has said the resignation of the deputy governor, James Ngilari, did not follow constitutional provisions as he ought to have addressed his resignation letter to him, as he was still governor as at the time of the purported resignation.
Ngilari, had in a bid to avoid being impeached, addressed his resignation letter to the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Ahmadu Fintiri, who was later sworn-in as acting governor, rather than Nyako, as provided for in the Constitution.
In a statement yesterday by his director of press and public affairs, Mallam Ahmad Sajoh, Nyako said: “Our attention has been drawn to the purported resignation of the deputy governor of Adamawa State, Barr Bala James Ngillari, which was supposedly read on the floor of the State House of Assembly. We wish to state categorically that Section 306 (5) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, requires that the deputy governor resign not to the House of Assembly but to the governor.
“As at the time the supposed resignation was said to have been tendered in the House, Murtala H. Nyako was the governor of Adamawa State. No such letter was written to him, none was received by him and none was approved by him.
“It should therefore be known that, in the eyes of the law, the deputy governor has not resigned. Barr Bala James Ngillari is still the deputy governor of Adamawa State. This clarification is necessary to avert another subversion of the constitution since the other processes relating to the impeachment saga have all been in contravention of the constitution and the law”.
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