By Soni Daniel, Northern Region Editor & Ben Agande
ABUJA—Last minute spirited efforts by two former heads of state to stave off the axe of impeachment hanging over the head of embattled Adamawa State Governor, Murtala Nyako, are not yielding fruits.
The two former leaders, Vanguard learnt, went with the governor, who had worked closely with them at different times, to plead with President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday night to save the governor from being disgraced out of office.

Nyako and Jonathan
It was learnt that at the meeting, the former leaders drew the attention of the presidency to the heightening ethno-religious tension that was building in Adamawa as a result of the move to oust the governor and the implications for the worsening security crisis in the North-East.
The two former leaders, who were in Abuja ahead of the Council of States meeting, which took place yesterday, reportedly impressed it upon President Jonathan that nothing should be done to escalate the violence in the region.
But a source close to the meeting told Vanguard last night that the President explained to the two leaders that he had no hand in the move to impeach the governor.
A source close to the president said the president upbraided Nyako for the insults he heaped on him in an offensive letter the governor wrote two months ago to his northern states counterparts, accusing the president of committing genocide in the north in the name of fighting Boko Haram.
But apparently to appease the former leaders, the Presidency was said to have told them that Nyako must first withdraw the inciting letter he wrote to the northern governors early this year and publicly apologise to Jonathan and Nigerians as a condition for intervening in the impeachment process.
However, an unrepentant Nyako was said to have stood his ground that he would rather go down than recant on the contents of the said letter, which sparked outrage when it was made public.
A source close to Nyako confirmed, yesterday, that the peace parley was deadlocked as a result of the governor’s refusal to disown the controversial letter and apologise to Jonathan.
“At that point, the governor is willing to step down rather than recant the content of the letter in question,” a loyalist of Nyako told Vanguard.
“It is true that the meeting got deadlocked at that point but another round of discussions was slated for Tuesday night (last night) but we cannot say whether the outcome will change anything,” the governor’s friend added.
Royal fathers meet to save Nyako
In the meantime, the eight first class traditional rulers in Adamawa met at the palace of the Lamido of Adamawa for hours, yesterday, in a bid to ward off impeachment of the governor.
Although the details of the royal fathers’ meeting were not made known, a reliable source confirmed that it was still part of the move by the kingmakers, who exercise a lot of influence in the state, to make members of the House of Assembly to see reason and soft-pedal on their decision to remove the governor.
The source hinted that some key lawmakers from the state were expected to meet with Nyako and some political heavyweights from the state in Abuja last night to brainstorm on the best way out of the political logjam.
The meeting, it was learnt, became imperative following the decision of the governor to resign his position since it had become clear to him that neither the lawmakers nor the judiciary was ready to follow due process in prosecuting his impeachment.
The governor reportedly told close associates that following undue pressure on the Acting Chief Judge, Ambrose Mammadi by vested interests, to reverse himself on his earlier judgement that he should be served notice of impeachment before being tried, he had come to the conclusion that he was being persecuted.
“The governor is of the view that since it is clear that both the Acting CJ and the House of Assembly are determined not to follow due process in removing him, it would be better for him to resign rather than wait for such impunity to throw the state into chaos,” a close aide of the governor hinted last night.
The governor is said to be planning to hand over the reins of power to his Deputy, Bala Ngilari, who remained in the PDP when he moved over to APC last year. The Presidency is said to be in support of the Deputy Governor taking over from Nyako because of his unwavering loyalty and support to the PDP.
But the decision by Nyako to hand over to Ngilari has rattled the Speaker, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, who hails from the same local government with Ngilari.
Initially, the permutation by Fintiri was that by removing Nyako and Ngilari, he would be elevated to the post of the governor but the PDP and the Presidency appear to be in favour of removing the governor and retaining his deputy.
If Ngilari is spared by the panel, it means that the Speaker will step down from his exalted position and become an ordinary member of the House of Assembly, since the speaker and governor cannot come from the same Madagali LGA of the state.
Nyako at Council of State meeting
The embattled governor, however, made a surprise appearance at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa this morning to attend a meeting of the National Council of State.
He was the cynosure of all eyes as his colleagues and cameramen rushed to capture his presence.
Governor Nyako appeared unruffled as he moved round to exchange banters with his colleagues and other presidential aides, including the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim.
Panel yet to secure venue for meeting
Meanwhile, the seven-man panel constituted by the Adamawa State Acting Chief Judge, Justice Ambrose Mammadi to investigate Governor Nyako and his deputy, Bala Ngilari for alleged gross misconduct ran into a hitch, yesterday, as the panel was unable to secure a venue for its sitting.
Vanguard findings revealed that the J & J Hotel Villa, where the panel held its first sitting sent the panel packing, complaining that the heavy presence of security operatives had scared away customers from the hotel.
The clerk of the Adamawa House of Assembly, who was negotiating venue for the panel‘s sitting was helpless as other hotels he visited equally turned down his request for the use of their premises.
The panel, it was gathered, moved to the NLC club, where the state chairman of the NLC tactically declined, claiming to be performing the lesser Hajj (Umrah) in Saudi Arabia.
The panel’s next port of call was the Adamawa State NUJ press centre, where there were divergent opinions from the leadership on whether or not to give out the conference hall of the centre.
A former national officer of the NUJ, who was alleged to be in the fore front negotiating the usage of NUJ centre was alleged to have even made contact with the North East zonal leadership of the union on the need to compel Adamawa council leadership to release the centre to the panel.
The division within the Adamawa NUJ leadership led to an emergency state executive council meeting, where majority of the members kicked against the use of the NUJ centre for the panel sitting.
It was gathered that the Clerk of the Assembly had earlier deposited N170,000 for the NUJ centre which was later returned after the state executive council of the NUJ rejected the usage of the centre.
The panel was yet to get another venue for its sitting at press time..
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/07/nyako-can-saved-presidency/#sthash.lXavuxjE.dpuf

No way... Nyako is going down.......

nyako is not only going down but he is getting in for treason!!!