The Assembly had initially vowed not to appear before the panel.
Barely 24 hours after the Nasarawa State House of Assembly vowed not to appear before the seven-member panel investigating impeachment charges against Governor Umaru Al-Makura, the Assembly made a u-turn and sent a six-man legal team to represent it before the panel.
The team lead by Ocha Ulegede has John Mathew, P. A. Daffi, Steven Idikwu, Ache Obande and Abraham Aruta as members.
The legal team arrived the venue of the sitting around 8.45 a.m. and took the seats marked for the state assembly.
The Chairman of the Assembly’s Committee on Information, Baba Ibaku, had on Monday said the lawmakers would not appear before the panel because of alleged constitutional breach by the Chief Judge (CJ), Suleiman Dikko, in the composition of the panel.
“I have said earlier that this panel is on its own. They are just a busy body. If the governor likes, let him appear and present his response but the report will not be submitted to Assembly. It is a panel of the CJ.”
The panel, led by Yusuf Usman, had on Monday given the Assembly till Tuesday (today) to appear before it.
Before Monday’s adjournment, the counsel to Governor Al-Makura, Noruka Udechukwu, had drawn the attention of the panel to paragraph 7 subsection c of its guidelines which states that “where the House of Assembly fails or neglects to appear and lead evidence in proof of allegations, the panel upon proof of service may dismiss the allegation.”
The panel, set up by the chief judge, is investigating the 16-count charge of gross misconduct the Assembly accused Mr. Al-Makura of.
- See more at: https://www.premiumtimesng.com/featured-news/166056-breaking-nasarawa-impeachment-assembly-makes-u-turn-sends-legal-representation-to-panel%e2%80%8e.html#sthash.hzII1VUS.dpuf