• 13 lawmakers submit motion to Speaker

Governor Joshua Dariye of Plateau State, who reclaimed his mandate yesterday after the Supreme Court last Friday nullified his impeachment by the state House of Assembly, may be faced with fresh troubles soon as 13 members of the legislature have signed and forwarded a fresh impeachment motion to the Speaker of the House, Hon Michael Dap-ialong, for endorsement.
Confirming this to THISDAY on phone, Honourable Damar, a member of the House, said: “It is true that the House now wants to follow the due process to impeach the governor. What is however not clear is whether the 13 lawmakers will still make two-thirds of the House to carry out a proper impeachment of the governor.”
Dariye was said to have drawn the lawmakers' wrath when he announced the dissolution of the Local Government transition committees set up by his Deputy, Chief Michael Botmang, and appointed a replacement.
Besides, the governor’s m-ove to conduct the local government election April 19, was also said to have infuriated the lawmakers.
In a press statement signed by the reinstated Secretary to the State Government, Mr John Gobak, Dariye had informed the general public to get prepared for the local government election, a development that is widely viewed by politicians as disadvantageous to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, which incidentally is in the majority in the state’s House of Assembly.
The statement says: "This is to inform the general public that Local government council election earlier scheduled for May 19, 2007 will hold as planned. In the mean time, Dariye has directed the Development Area committee Chairmen, Secretaries and members set up by him to return to their duty post immediately".
The governor had appointed the chairmen before he was impeached, and when Botmang came to power, he dissolved the committees, cancelled their appointments and posted some PDP members to take their places.
The committee chairmen took the Botmang's government to court and won the case against the state government, yet they were not called back.
But Dariye, on resumption, returned them to their original seats to plan and supervise the local government election scheduled for the 19th. This, political observers say, was the reason why the lawmakers are calling for Dariye's head.
Meanwhile, Dariye yesterday, in a long convoy, took a ride through the city of Jos.
In his tour, he visited the State Secretariat, Jos Main Market and a few other places where he addressed workers and residents of the ancient city.
The ride was however after holding a session with his reinstated executive council where several decisions like the dissolution of the local government transition committee members were taken. The deputy governor was however prominently absent from the council meeting.
Dariye, while addressing a large crowd including his reinstated cabinet members and some political leaders in the state, who had converged at the Government House, in the morning to greet him, had specifically extended a hand of fellowship to Botmang, whose whereabout remained unknown as at press time, saying, “all this dodge-dodge no-go-work”.
The governor’s veiled plea which formed part of the high points of his brief speech, coincided with the press release of the governor-elect, Air Cdr Jonah Jang in which he warned banks “against granting credit facilities to the state government outside funds for salaries”, insisting that offending banks will only have themselves to blame.
The press release issued on behalf of Jang and his deputy, Pauline Tallen, by the former’s Personal Assistant, Chris Gyang’ and dated April 28, warned that any financial obligation entered into with any bank, which went beyond “the payment of salaries and entitlements of civil servants and other overhead costs, will not be honoured by the in coming administration”.
Rationalising their position on a recent resolution passed by the state House of Assembly compelling the state government not to make any payments outside stipulated expenditures, Jang-/Tallen warned that, “the in-coming administration will not honour any facilities that were not secured through the process and against the House of Assembly resolutions”.
But the returnee-governor had directed the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs to liaise with the state electoral commission over the proposed local government polls.
The directive, which may have jolted the opposition camp especially the PDP, was one of the policy statements, which Dariye had made Monday, as he formally resumed duties.
The governor further dissolved all appointments made by his deputy in his absence, including boards and parastatals’ appointments and local government transition comm-ittees/development areas committees, among others, just as most of the cabinet members earlier appointed by Botmang but now dropped in the new policy thrust, did not show up in their offices.
While soliciting for the support of the people in the state, Dariye, particularly pleaded with the striking civil servants in the state to go back to work, promising to sort out whatever grey areas with the government which may have compelled the strike.
In a related development, the PDP, Plateau state chapter, through its state chairman, Chief Silvernus D Lot, has condemned the Supreme court ruling, saying "it is unfair and lacks moral consideration as it failed to take into account the implication of the verdict on the fragile peace on in the state."
Responding to this, the reinstated Commissioner for Information, Hon Yakubu Datti, said "what 'peace' is it that lacks rule of law and justice? Such a 'peace' we reject, because such cannot stand the test of time. We do not want a 'peace' that lack justice. Infact, that is not Peace but oppression". The state has however remained calm.

thisdayonline.com

waste of time and resources. Who is to be blame for this criminal?