Kamal Hamzat
History is perhaps one Achilles heel of leaders. Whereas leaders who ruled with compassion, love and piety are immortalised by history, those who did otherwise will definitely reap the reward of their highhandedness.
One thing that Governor Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State must contend with right now is whether or not there’s still redemption in stock for him because as at now, he has veered completely off track so that he’s at a collision course with the interest of the people of Gombe and to say he’s deliberately destroying the legacies of his predecessors is an understatement.
Although, it is common practice that, bar a few, most Nigerian governors have unanimously developed a model that automatically turns state houses of assemblies into a rubber stamp assemblage run by an unwritten constitution lettered only by vested interest. The Governor Inuwa Yahaya model appears to be some version higher than the widespread practice.
Even though most state houses of assemblies defer to the dictates of state governors, they still manage to maintain a semblance of autonomy even if just for the public eye. Indeed, nothing defines a democracy better than the principle of separation of powers. The letters and spirits of the constitution were very clear in defining this separation that is both autonomous in structure but synergistic in practice.
Unfortunately, the Inuwa Yahaya model of legislative autonomy or separation of power is a chilling and scary rehash that seeks to completely obliterate the lines of autonomy between the executive and the legislature by all means necessary. It has been alleged (and this is common knowledge) that the governor, having found a willing accomplice in the shape of the leadership of Gombe State House of Assembly under Hon. Abubakar Luggerewo, among other things, has set out to mortgage the future of our dear state through debt.
In just a little above two years, Governor Inuwa Yahaya has indebted Gombe State to the tune of N119bn and counting. Much of the loans were said to have been approved without due diligence, a development that so many members of the state Assembly have kicked against, some at a personal cost.
Yet, it’s not just the indebtedness that is causing tempers to flare in Gombe. It is the fact that there are no enough projects to justify the debts and this is where the problem is. The people, through many members of the Assembly, still with their courage about them, have expressed fear that the debt which is not adding any value to the state and its people will definitely become a problem for generations yet unborn.
And as if this entire outcry is not enough, it has been revealed that Governor Yahaya’s man, Hon. Luggerewo, alongside 10 others orchestrated an audacious coup which saw to the speedy passing of the 2022 Appropriation Bill through to third reading. Aside from the fact that this is evil, it contravenes every letter of the constitution and as such, amounts to enough grounds for impeachment.
But assuming one is ready to turn a blind eye to that aberration, one is still left with other implications of this desperate practice that majority of the people of Gombe have been denied the opportunity to scrutinize the budget proposal whose content will affect all of them. In the face of this brazen undemocratic practice, aggrieved members of the Assembly who have planned to put paid to the leadership of Abubakar Luggerewo have been harried, intimidated and locked out of the Assembly complex by agents of state all in a desperate attempt to scuttle his impeachment which has been signed in principle by over 13 APC and 3 PDP members.
The time to speak up against Inuwa Yahaya is now and the time to call Hon. Luggerewo to order is now. The founding fathers of democracy included separation of powers in the setup because of leaders like Inuwa Yahaya and his lackeys in the House. I therefore call on well-meaning sons and daughters of our dear state to rise up and speak truth to power before Gov Inuwa and his cronies at the state Assembly run our dear state aground. In this material time, silence is not golden. In fact, silence in the face of this executive rascality amounts to complicity. In the words of John Stuart Mill: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” We all risk the ire of posterity if we fail to join this call to action.
Hamzat writes from Gombe.
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