Obasanjo, Plateau House To Meet On Dariye(Ogbeh Panel Submits Report)
By Kodilinye Obiagwu (Lagos) and Isa Abdulsalami (Jos)
PRESIDENT Olusegun Obasanjo has invited all the suspended members of the Plateau State House of Assembly for a meeting at the Aso Villa, Abuja, on Monday.
The Guardian learnt that the invitation was to fine-tune the resolutions of the recent meeting between the President and some Plateau State elders, where a consensus was reached to end the controversial emergency rule on November 18.
The President's action is also allegedly prompted by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Chairman, Chief Audu Ogbeh-led six-man panel, which recommended that the lawmakers should be allowed to determine Dariye's fate.
Ogbeh and his team reportedly presented their report to Obasanjo on Thursday at his Ota home in Ogun State immediately he returned from a foreign trip.
Sources said the planned meeting is for the President to learn, first hand, the position of the 24-member suspended Assembly on the resolutions.
Obasanjo's meeting with the Plateau elders was held on Friday, October 29.
At the meeting, the President constituted a six-man panel to execute the resolutions. The committee is headed by the National Chairman of the ruling Peoples democratic Party (PDP), Chief Audu Ogbeh and has Senate President Adolphus Wabara and four others as members.
The committee, which kept its deadline in submitting its report, did not interview the suspended governor despite the fact that its second mandate was to look into the allegations against Dariye.
"The state House of Assembly is in the best position to ascertain the truth behind the allegations and then take appropriate actions. We believe that at this point, the Constitution should be the guide for all actions. The committee is just an advisory body and did not take decision," sources quoted the committee as reporting to Obasanjo.
The impeachment of Dariye has always been an issue in the resolution of the crisis in the state. It was tabled before the state House of Assembly before the declaration of the state of emergency as a condition to avert the state of emergency and the six months suspension of the House of Assembly. A member of the suspended House, on the basis of anonymity said, "we never considered the impeachment of Dariye the solution to whatever crisis that prevailed in the state."
The committee insisted that due process and the Constitution must be followed in any matter relating to the issue of the impeachment of Dariye, which was presented at the stakeholders meeting as a condition for the end of the emergency rule in the state.
Before the stakeholders meeting last week, Dariye was offered the option of resigning or the allegations against him would be referred to the State House of Assembly, which would initiate impeachment moves against him.
The Guardian learnt that the proposition was spurned also by his deputy, Chief Michael Botmang, and the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Mr. Simon Lalong who were to take over as governor and deputy respectively.
The Speaker of the suspended House of Assembly, Mr. Simon Lalong, declined comments when contacted during the week. But he confirmed the meeting in a telephone conversation yesterday with The Guardian.
Obasanjo is expected to make a national broadcast before November 18 when the first six months of the renewable emergency period will lapse.
The Ogbeh committee had allegedly waited to present the report to the President in Abuja, but he "came straight to Ota from abroad."
Sources close to the panel told The Guardian that in submitting the report to the President, it recognised that it was just an advisory body without powers to implement its recommendations.
The committee, which kept its deadline in submitting its report within a week, did not interview the suspended governor despite the fact that its second mandate was to look into the allegations against Dariye.
The thrust of the committee's recommendations was the fate of the suspended governor but it advised he matter should be left in the hands of the state lawmakers.
The committee noted that the state Assembly alone should be allowed to examine the veracity of the allegations. "The state House of Assembly is in the best position to ascertain the truth behind the allegations and then take appropriate actions. We believe that at this point, the constitution should be the guide for all actions. The committee is just an advisory body and did not take decision," said the sources.
The impeachment of Dariye has always been an issue in the resolution of the crisis in the state. It was tabled before the state House of Assembly before the declaration of the state of emergency as a condition to avert rule and the six months suspension of the House. A member of the suspended House, on the basis of anonymity said, "we never considered the impeachment of Dariye the solution to whatever crisis that prevailed in the state."
The Ogbeh committee insisted that due process and the constitution must be followed in any matter relating to the issue of the impeachment of Dariye, which was presented at the stakeholders meeting as a condition for the end of the emergency rule in the state.
Before the stakeholders meeting last week, Dariye was offered the option of resigning or the allegations against him would be referred to the legislature, which would initiate impeachment moves against him.
The Guardian learnt that the proposition was spurned also by his deputy, Chief Michael Botmang, and the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Mr. Simon Lalong, who were to take over as governor and deputy respectively.
.It was learnt that the Sole Administrator, Maj. Gen. Chris Alli, has already been directed to prepare his hand over notes.
Alli has begun to present his score card. He has also commended the foresight, vision and courage of the President and the National Assembly in checking the crisis in the state through the imposition of the emergency rule.
To Alli, if the state of emergency had not been imposed, Plateau would by now have disintegrated. He expressed joy that the emergency rule had been able to restore the dignity of the people.
He made the declarations when the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts led by its chairman, Senator Patrick Osakwe, paid him a courtesy visit at Government House, Rayfield, Jos.
Alli pointed out that the emergency rule had helped to stem violence not only in Plateau State, but also in the entire nation.
The Administrator further said a heavy debt profile is weighing down the state.
He said that with the debt profile of over N80 billion, both local and external, development would continue to elude the state.
Mr. Osakwe had earlier told Alli that they were in the state to assess projects for which local and foreign debts were incurred.
He commended the Administrator for restoring peace to the state and urged the people to maintain their hard-earned peace.
In a similar development, Alli has described events that occurred in the state in the recent past as part of growing process in any society.
He stated this when the Ambassador of France to Nigeria Mr. Eves Kuduel, visited him at the Government House.
Alli described the visit by the envoy as a show of solidarity and concern of the French government for the well-being of the people of the state.
He pointed out that misunderstanding was inevitable among communities but added that it must not lead to destruction and killings and expressed hopes that the link between France and Nigeria would open doors of mutual benefits for both countries.
Earlier the Ambassador said that France had been following with keen interest events that had been unfolding in the state and other parts of Nigeria.
He disclosed that his country had strong economic and military links with Nigeria.
