PDP woos Nyako to escape impeachment

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is offering Adamawa Governor Murtala Nyako a lifeline to escape impeachment: a swift return to the party.

Nyako, who left the party for All Progressives Congress (APC) last year, is currently facing impeachment proceedings by the state house of assembly.

Although TheCable reported at the weekend that the process could be completed “within 10 days”, moves have been intensified to save the governor.

TheCable learnt that Nyako was jokingly told by President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja on Tuesday to come back to PDP if he wanted to escape the lawmakers’ hammer, but the party chieftains did not treat it as a joke as they started holding discussions with the governor to persuade him.

Nyako refused to make a commitment to return to PDP, TheCable was informed by someone in the know.

All the 25 members of the Adamawa house of assembly are in the PDP, but five of them did not sign the impeachment notice.

Abuja-based online newspaper, Premium Times, had reported that the governor was set to resign to avoid the impeachment move, but several lifelines have now been thrown at him so that he can keep his job.

TheCable learnt that he will now only go back to the resignation option if renewed efforts to save him fail.

“I am not considering resignation for now,” he told state house correspondents in Abuja on Wednesday after attending the inauguration of the committee on Safe School Initiative by Jonathan.

Asked if it he had plans to return to the PDP, he did not answer the question directly.

He said: “Quite frankly, you know how I joined the PDP and partisan politics in the first place. It is not really my field. My field is known. You know what I was before. We are straightforward. We have two distinctions: loyalty and disloyalty… two separate pieces.

“But one of the interior politicians told me that there are a lot of things in between loyalty and disloyalty which up till this moment I have not appreciated. So, for me, disloyalty with this type of attitude with Nigerian politics of today you are likely to step on toes of a few. ”

He said he would not yet seek the help of Jonathan over the impeachment.

“Not yet. It has not reached that crisis point,” he said, although he did not rule out the possibility.

“We have supported him all this time. He has supported us and in situations like these when Mr. President’s support is required, we will seek it,” he said.

He also spoke on the cause of the Adamawa crisis.

“Adamawa is a very interesting place. If I tell you we have 87 ethnic groups and the two religions are fairly balanced,  It means that being sensitive to each and everyone of us is very important. It is a place of intellectualism; everybody has his own point of view and you have a group of people who share a certain point of view.

“And until it changes, they will maintain that point of view. But we have been peaceful somehow and we will remain peaceful,” he said.