THEY swooped on the photographic images of Chief Joshua Chibi Dariye. The attackers smashed away endlessly and the din of shattering glass drowned all else.
At the end, what were portraits of Dariye littered the floor of the Government House in pitiful caricatures of their originals.
It was all in celebration of the ouster yesterday of Chief Joshua Chibi Dariye, the Plateau State governor. The erstwhile governor’s fate was sealed by a six-man panel, which impeached him early yesterday at 4.30 a.m. The panel was led by the Speaker Protempore, Michael Dapialong.
In Dariye’s stead, his former deputy, Chief Michael Bot-Mang, was sworn in
The six lawmakers had arrived Jos, the capital of Plateau State, at about 4.00 a.m. amidst tight security and proceeded to the chamber of the state House of Assembly complex where they sat for about 40 minutes to deliberate on the interim report of the investigative panel probing the governor over alleged abuse of office and other financial offences.
Chairman of the panel, Chief John Mark Samci, a source said, was called upon late Sunday night to prepare his report based on the document in his possession and be ready to submit it to the six-member House of Assembly.
At the Chamber of the House where the impeachment process was conducted, only the six lawmakers, the Clerk of the House, Mr. Cornelius Shilobal who has been in the EFCC custody, two members of the investigative panel and security operatives were present, it was gathered.
According to a source close to the panel, the lawmakers and other external forces moving for the impeachment did not wait for the full report of the panel because of the fear that four members of the panel were planning to opt out and that the Court of Appeal might also grant an injunction against the sitting of the panel.
Immediately the House of Assembly members finished their sitting, they were driven back to Abuja under security escort, while another troop of security men were deployed in Ray Field Government House and other strategic parts of the town.
The official residence of the Secretary to the State Government, Chief John Gobak was cordoned, so also the private residence of former Governor Dariye in Bukuru town, Jos South Local Council of the state. It was gathered that all the occupants of the two premises were still up holed inside them as at the time of filling this report
Acting Chief Judge (CJ) of the state Justice Yau Dakwang, who was appointed by Chief Dariye last week was reportedly arrested in the early hours of yesterday so that the sacked CJ, Justice Larzarus Dakyen, could perform the swearing-in of the new Governor.
At exactly 10:00 a.m., Justice Dakyen, accompanied by security operatives, arrived at Ray-Field Government House along with other judges of the state High Court for the ceremony, while Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stalwarts and their supporters besieged the venue.
After the Chief Judge administered the oath on the former Deputy Governor, Chief Michael Bot-Mang as the new governor of the state, Bot-Mang said the event was unexpected, as it was not planned by anybody. It was a child of necessity, he said.
Bot-Mang who solicited the cooperation of the people of Plateau State gave assurance that he would operate “an open door policy and government that would be all-embracing.
“I can see some people who have not stepped into this place for the past seven years coming to witness my swearing-in ceremony. I want to say that I need everybody on board to move the state forward”, he said.
He charged the people of the state to go about their normal business, adding that adequate security had been put in place to deal with anybody planning to foment trouble.
The new governor declared that the Acting Chief Judge of the state remained Justice Lazarus Dakyen, stressing that any other person parading himself as the state CJ was an “impostor.”
It was after this speech that some of the PDP supporters who had thronged the Government House went berserk destroying all the portraits of the former Governor, Dariye, positioned at various parts of the House.
Some of the former governor’s political rivals who came to the Government House to witness the occasion were Air Commodore Jonah Jang (rtd), Chief John Magni, the state Chairman of PDP, Chief Jethro Akun; PDP state secretary, Alhaji Saleh Bayare; Alhaji Alhassan Shuibu; Jimmy Cheto, a gubernatorial aspirant and other staunch supporters of PDP, mostly those who dumped the party for AD and ANPP in 2002 and later returned to the party during emergency rule in 2004.
Meanwhile, the whereabouts of Dariye was unknown. His House in Bukuru town was under heavy presence of security men and nobody was allowed to move close to the building.
Speaking with The Guardian, the former state Commissioner of Information in Dariye’s government, Yakubu Dati, said the former governor had not run away as being peddled by some people, adding that he was still in town but refused to be categorical as to his whereabouts.
He, however, said Dariye’s whereabouts would soon be made known, including his next line of action.
Datti announced his resignation from the government, saying that the process that produced Chief Bot-Mang as the governor was not only illegal but also unconstitutional. “I cannot be part of it, therefore I am resigning my appointment as the state Commissioner of Information.”
Meanwhile, things remained normal in Jos and across the state after the swearing-in of the new governor as people went about their normal businesses.
The new Governor has approved the dissolution of the Plateau State Executive Council with immediate effect.
Similarly, the Secretary to the Plateau State Government, Mr. John Gobak, has been relieved of his appointment. He is to hand over to the most senior Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Secretary to the State Government.
A statement by the Director of Press Affairs to the new governor, Mr. George Pam, said the governor has in the same vein relieved the following officers of their appointments:
all special advisers/special assistants and political aides.
all chairmen and members of boards and parastatals.
Chief of Staff (Government House), Deputy Chief of Staff (Government House) and Deputy Chief of Staff (Deputy Governor’s Office).
Chairmen and members of management committees of newly-created development areas.
The statement said: “They are to hand over all government property in their possession to the most senior officers in their establishments.”
The governor thanked the affected officers for their meritorious service to the state and prayed the Almighty God will bless them in their future endeavours.
The travails of Dariye date back to November 2004, when the London Metropolitan Police arrested him in his Marricon Hotel and a sum of $10,000 was allegedly found on him.
The London police consequently arraigned him before a Magistrate’s Court which eventually granted him bail. Back in Nigeria, Dariye was accused of diverting the state’s N1.2 billion Ecological Funds. He was also accused of not disclosing his assets as required by law.
His return home, however, could not deter both the EFCC and the Code of Conduct Bureau from filing charges of corruption at the Federal High Court in Abuja and Kaduna.
Both the EFCC and Code of Conduct Bureau however could not make any progress as the courts ruled that their hands were tied by section 308 of the 1999 Constitution, which conferred immunity on Dariye.
Frustrated by the courts, both the EFCC and the former Justice Minister, Chief Akin Olujimi, wrote to the Plateau State House of Assembly, urging it to do justice.
The House responded by setting up a panel led by Usman Zumuta Musa to investigate the veracity of the allegations against Dariye.
The panel did not only exonerate the governor, it went further to recommend that the governor be commended for judiciously using the state funds.
On January 19, 2006, EFCC chairman, Nuhu Ribadu, represented by the agency’s Director of Operation, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, finally appeared before the Plateau House of Assembly where he gave evidence and documents to substantiate the agency’s corruption allegation against Dariye.
It was at the end of his testimony and to the surprise of the lawmakers that letters freezing the state’s 33 bank accounts were distributed to journalists.
Last month, 14 members of the state legislature announced their decampment to the newly formed Advanced Congress (AC).
Both the state and national secretariats of the PDP reacted by going to an Abuja High Court to declare the seats of the decampees vacant.
The 14, in the bid to save their seats made for the Abuja Court, where unknown to them the EFCC had laid ambush on them. The EFCC succeeded in arresting seven out of the 14 decampees after keeping a vigil at the court.
On October 13, violent protest was triggered off in Jos following the killing of a man who was going for treatment at the state specialist hospital, by a police team that led eight anti-Dariye legislators to Jos, for a session where they planned to pass a motion on the state Acting Chief Judge to set up an impeachment panel.
In the protest, the house of Deputy Senate President, Ibrahim Mantu and many cars were torched by irate youths.
The Group of eight lawmakers (G8), as they were called, met for about 30 minutes under heavy security at the House of Assembly and passed a resolution to notify the Chief Judge to constitute an impeachment panel against Governor Dariye.