TheCitizen Breaking News: Enugu State boils …14 House Members serve impeachment notice on Chime, 9 impeach Speaker

The people of Enugu State woke up on Monday morning to hear news that members of the Enugu State House of Assembly have commenced impeachment proceedings against Governor Sullivan Chime for allegedly forging the N12 billion 2012 Supplementary Budget.

However, before they could digest the news, another filtered in that the House Speaker, Hon.Eugene Odoh has been impeached.

TheCitizen gathered that 14 lawmakers, led by the Speaker, Hon. Odo sat early this morning at the Chambers of the House where they read a notice of impeachment against Chime.

The impeachment notice was signed by 14 members of the House,including the speaker, and the Clerk of the House, Christopher Chukwurah was directed to serve the notice on the governor immediately.

The Deputy Speaker, Chime Oji who was recently elected to represent Enugu North/South Federal Constituency, Hon. Emeka Ogbuabor and Deputy House Leader,  John Kevin Ukwuta were suspended at the sitting for alleged anti-House activities

The  speaker and the 13 members found their way into the legislative chamber as early as 6.28 am on Monday and held the sitting after the police had prevented them from gaining entry into the House.

Following complaints by the speaker, the police men who besieged the premises of the State House of Assembly were ordered to allow them into the House.

The lawmakers had complained that the governor was using some members of the House to disrupt its activities for refusing to approve the N11 billion loan requested by the governor.

However, the mace was taken away after the sitting of the House.

But at 7.05am the suspended Deputy Speaker and six other members of the House including the Deputy Govenor-elect, Hon. Cecilia Ezeilo walked into the chamber with another mace and  conducted another sitting. One member later joined them.

After a short prayer, Hon. John Kevin Ukwuta, who was also suspended by the Odo-led group moved a motion that Hon. Johnbull Nwagu who was suspended by the House should be recalled and Hon. Chinedu Nwamba seconded the motion.

The Chime group of nine lawmakers, however, lifted the suspension slammed on Nwagu for misconduct and invited him to join the group bringing their number to nine.

Hon. Ukwuta thereafter moved another motion calling for the suspension of the Speaker Eugene Odoh and six other members in his group including Anichukwu Nwankwo, Okechukwu Nwoke, Paul Ogbe, Nze Michael Onyeze, Chika Eneh and SKE Udo-Okoye.  The motion was approved by the nine members.

The principal officers among the suspended were also stripped of their positions and benefits.

Ukwuta further moved for the nomination of other colleagues to fill the vacancies created by the suspension and nominated Chinedu Nwamba, representing Nsukka East constituency to be sworn-in as Speaker of the House.

The motion was approved and Chinedu Nwamba was sworn in as House Speaker.

The friction between the House and the House started lately when the House embarked on probe of some government agencies, ministries and parastatals in the state which many saw as an affront and afterthought by the House which has been in bed with the Chime-led administration until lately.

it was recently alleged that Chime turned down their request for 'settlement' as the administration was coming to an end.

However, yesterday in Enugu, the embattled Speaker, Hon. Odoh stated that the on-going probe was not targeted at Chime,  dismissing insinuations that the lawmakers were hatching an impeachment plot against the governor.

'The House for now has no plan to impeach the governor, we are rather concerned with strengthening issues for the interest of the masses.'

'We are crying for the public to appreciate what the House is passing through; but the House hopes that it will not be pushed so hard, the lawmakers should be allowed to do their duties, we welcome constructive engagement like public debate on issues we raised and not blackmail, vilification and attacks. We are ready to respond to issues on point of law and morality,' he said.

The Speaker was apparently reacting to an advertorial by the Chief Press Secretary to the state governor, Mr. Chukwudi Achife, in which he accused the speaker of personal interest in the current probe of some activities of the state government, as well as, the warrant of arrest issued against the Accountant General of the State, Paschal Okolie, by the Assembly.

Odoh identified the lawmakers' refusal to approve the governor's N11 billion loan request as the source of the ongoing frictions between the executive and the legislative arms in the state.

It will be recalled that the House presided over by the speaker, Odo, had on resumption of the probe of the state government activities, last Wednesday, asked the Commissioner of Police to produce the embattled Accountant General to the House in their next sitting on Tuesday (tomorrow).

The House had during its sitting last Tuesday cancelled the water concession deal of the government, stopped land allocations at International Conference Centre, construction of park and shopping mall near the House of Assembly complex and land allocations at Old Eastern Nigeria Industrial Centre at Zik Avenue, Enugu.

The warrant of arrest was issued after the Accountant General of the state failed to answer several summons by the House to answer questions regarding the starving of the House of its statutory overheads and allowances, while the executive and the judicial arm of government have been receiving theirs.

Odo said  contrary to the advertorial by Achife, the assembly had already approved a loan of N11 billion requested by the state government, before recanting recently.

He said that the assembly rather disapproved of the loan because it was coming less than 60 days to the end of the administration and that the state was already under a heavy yoke of staggering debts.

'The assembly had approved the loan initially and tied it to the completion of specific projects but unfortunately,  the regulatory body refusd to grant it. After awhile, the governor had to bring it to us again about 60 days to the end of the administration, under the Irrevocable Standing Payment Order (ISPO) but the lawmakers refused it, insisting that since government is a continuum, whatever project the government is thinking of completing can be handed over to the incoming administration which has already promised a seamless continuity, ' he said.

The speaker contradicted the governor's press secretary who stated that the House has no right to arrest the Accountant General, saying that Section 129 (1b) empowers the State and National Assembly to conduct inquiry into public office/officer charged with implementation of appropriation as approved and that when necessary, summon such officer or order for his arrest if he defies summons.

While expressing regret about the advertorial by governor Chime's aide, Odoh said the publication was an unfortunate one aimed at misleading the public and denigrating the person of the speaker, noting that the speaker is merely a presiding officer who rules on motions and resolutions of the House and hardly votes on any issue unless there is a tie.

The speaker insisted that any resolution of the House is a common position adopted by the House and not an individual lawmaker's opinion.

He added that the position taken by the House regarding some issues, including the N11 billion loan, cancellation of water concession, probe of fraudulent award of contracts at the Enugu State Universal Basic Education Board (ENSUBEB) and request for cancellation of land allocations to individuals around the three-arms zone of the state were done in public interest.

The House challenged the executive for a public debate to decide who the citizens of the state will side on the various issues raised.