Enugu Deputy Gov served impeachment notice
The Enugu state Deputy Governor, Mr Sunday Onyebuchi, was on Tuesday given a seven-day ultimatum by members of the state House of Assembly to satisfactorily clear allegations of gross misconduct and abuse of his office or get booted out of office.
The 22 out of the 24 members of the state house of assembly, who were physically present at Tuesday’s sitting of the house, appended their names and signature to the impeachment notice on Mr Sunday Onyebuchi, the state deputy governor.
The Speaker, Hon Eugene Odoh did not sign in view of the fact that he presided over the sitting. Consequently, the clerk of the house of assembly was mandated to immediately dispatch the letter to the office of Mr Onyebuchi to serve him the notice
One of the reasons for serving impeachment notice on Onyebuchi, is an allegation that he grossly abused his office between February 2013 and February 2014, by having resisted the impleamentation of a public health policy of the state government that banned the rearing of commercial livestock and poultry within residential neighbourhoods within Enugu metropolis. That in as much as Mr Onyebuchi was very much aware of this policy, which passed through the state house of assembly to become a law in the state, he purposely and defiantly reared a commercial poultry within the premises of his official residential quarters, which posed a health hazard to government offices, located beside his residential building, including Governor Chime's own office.
They alleged that Onyebuchi stood his ground not to relocate his commercial poultry out of his official residence located within government house, even when official letters were sent to him to the effect.
The Enugu state Legislators said it was the least expected from the embattled deputy governor to have gone to the press to castigate the state government and some of it's officials, when the state government directed some of it's agencies to compulsorily relocate his commercial poultry out of government premises, aftermath of his refusal to comply to government directives.
'When the government through the appropriate ministries and departments relocated the birds and cleared the premises of the noxious stench emanating therefrom, the deputy governor wrongfully deployed the resources and powers of his office as deputy governor to invite the press and openly castigated the government and her officials, thereby impugning and denigrating the authority and office of the governor and embarrassing the government,” they said.
The Enugu state law makers in their second reason for serving notice of impeachment on the state deputy governor alleged 'Disobedience to the lawful directives of the state governor', stating that the Deputy governor very often refuses to comply to the directives of his boss, Mr Sullivan Chime. They stated, ” The deputy governor habitually refuses, fails or neglects to carry out or perform the functions of his office as directed by the governor, pursuant to section 193[1] of the constitution, without any excuse.”
The Enugu state legislators cited that details of the breach of the constitution in this regard by the state deputy governor, Mr Sunday Onyebuchi, includes his refusal to represent Governor Chime during the flag off ceremony of the construction of the 2nd Niger Bridge by President Goodluck Jonathan on March 11,2014, at Onitsha.
They also stated that Mr Sunday Onyebuchi, in his capacity as the state deputy governor, blatantly refused to represent governor Chime during the South East governors forum, held on Sunday, July 6,2014,inspite of the fact that his boss, Sullivan Chime, asked him to represent him at the function, which was held within Enugu state government house.
The Legislators in the impeachment notice finally sounded, 'The Deputy governor persists in his defiance of lawful directives issued to him by the governor, which defiance has adversely affected and will continue to affect the smooth running of the government, and he will continue to do so if not removed from office'.