The Taraba State House of Assembly yesterday began moves to remove deputy governor Sani Abubakar Danladi when it served him a notice of impeachment over allegations of 'gross misconduct.'A motion to serve Danladi with the impeachment notice was moved yesterday in the assembly by deputy speaker Abel Peter Diah, and it was signed by 21 members of the 23-member house of assembly.The House accused the deputy governor of using his office to acquire a business venture worth billions of naira. It resolved to give him a two-week ultimatum to respond to allegations or face removal from office.In the motion, Danladi was accused of diverting a Millennium Development Goals project to his private school, Yagai Academy, which houses his other business ventures like Yagai Water, Yagai Printing Press and Yagai Restaurant.The legislators said the siting of MDG ICT Centre and the sinking of motorised boreholes in Yagai Academy are a gross misconduct as the school is a private initiative of the deputy governor and the facilities sited there cannot be accessed by the public.They alleged that Danladi used his influence to acquire 'a large expanse of land in Jalingo on which you built Yagai Academy (together with all other multi million naira business ventures sited therein like Yagai Water, Yagai Printing Press and Yagai Restaurant) an institution which is worth about a billion naira which your total emolument as a deputy governor cannot justify and in doing this you have not only breached the code of conduct for public office holders which requires you to show transparency in the act of governance.'Danladi is also accused of undue interference in the postings and transfers of indigenes of his local government, Karim Lamido, and has been working against the interests of the stakeholders of the local government.There are feelers that the house may be doing a hatchet job for Governor Danaba Suntai who has recently brought his friend Engr. Ahmed Yusuf back to Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP) and would want Yusuf to become his deputy.But chairman of the House Committee on Information, Mr. Daniel Ishaya Gani, said the impeachment process was not initiated by forces outside the house as the members were genuinely concerned about the 'gross misconduct' of the deputy governors.Also, Commissioner of Information Emmanuel Bello said, 'Governor Danbaba Suntai doesn't meddle in what legislators are doing. He is a firm believer in the rule of law and separation of powers. This is purely a legislative matter. So count him out of this.'There was no immediate reaction by the deputy governor, and he did not respond to a text message sent to his mobile phone by our reporter by last night.
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