After fruitless attempts to pin down and arrest impeached Adamawa State Governor, Murtala Nyako, the Federal Government appears to be under pressure to declare him wanted.
There were clear indications last night that security agents, who have been combing Yola and Abuja for Nyako, were frustrated over their inability to trace his whereabouts fueling impression that the axed governor is on the run.The government wants the former Chief of Defence Staff arrested and prosecuted over alleged looting of Adamawa State treasury and treason against Nigeria.
According to a competent source in Yola, Nyako’s security aides are said to have ferried him out of Yola to an undisclosed location the same day he was sacked from office.
Although, many believe that the former governor was still in Yola, other sources claim he had travelled to Saudi Arabia while some say he is in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.
Nyako not on the run—Aide
Nyako’s spokesman, Sajoh Ahmed said yesterday that his boss was not on the run. “Governor is not on the run. He left Yola on the same day of the impeachment. I don’t know where he is at the moment. I am now in my own house. It is wrong to say he is on the run,” he said.
The plot to arrest Nyako was hatched a few hours after Adamawa lawmakers voted for his removal from office, having mobilised the required two-third majority to sack him.
Saturday Vanguard’s investigation showed that the federal authorities were considering the option of declaring Nyako wanted as a last resort to compel him to come out and face the gamut of charges prepared against him by both the office of the Attorney General of the Federation and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC
The two-pronged legal onslaught against Nyako also known as Baba Mai Mangoro, which is to be unleashed by the AGF and EFCC, almost simultaneously, is expected to take off as soon as he is arrested by security agents, who have been combing Yola and Abuja for him.
The AGF, it was learnt, has been given marching orders by the Presidency to prepare charges that may send Nyako to prison for the rest of his life, if convicted.
The EFCC, on the other hand, has been busy assembling vital documents and witnesses that will enable it to nail Nyako once he is arraigned in court.
One of the top officials of the Nyako administration that might be used as a witness against him, is the man, who served for many years as the Secretary to the State Government, SSG, who has since been arrested and detained by the EFCC over the looting of the state’s funds.
A senior EFCC official told Saturday Vanguard yesterday that it was in preparation for trying Nyako that the former SSG was being detained and questioned by its operatives.
“Yes, we are keeping the SSG and he is helping us in relation to the huge sum of money that was stolen under Nyako’s leadership. We are not likely to release the man until the trial begins. We are still looking for Nyako and we know that he has gone underground but we may be forced to declare him wanted, if he proves difficult,” the source said.
The commission is also said to have arrested some other officials, who served under Nyako and transferred them to Abuja in preparation for the legal battle to retrieve the state funds.
The North-East Regional Manager of a third generation bank, who reportedly granted a loan of N43 billion to the Nyako government without approval by the Security and Exchange Commission, SEC, and other relevant agencies, is said to have been detained by the anti-graft agency.
The EFCC is grilling the bank official on why he allowed the state governor and his officials to draw from a loan that was not approved by the relevant agencies of government, accusing him of aiding and abetting fraud.
