War drum beckons in Ebonyi as Speaker says Elechi Must be impeached

The leadership of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly on Wednesday insisted that the House was still committed to the move to impeach the state governor, Martins Elechi. 

The Speaker of the House, Chukwuma Nwanzuku, made the declaration in a statement he issued in reaction to reports that seven lawmakers have backed out of the impeachment plot. 

The Minority Leader, Enyi C. Enyi, had, at a press briefing on Tuesday, announced that seven members of Ebonyi State House of Assembly, who were part of the 15 lawmakers that voted in favour of the move to remove the governor, had withdrawn from the impeachment plot against Elechi.

But the Speaker has denied the Minority Leader’s claims. 

In a statement, which was made available to our correspondent, the Speaker insisted that all the Peoples Democratic Party members of the House are “intact” and committed to the bid to remove the governor over alleged acts of gross misconduct. 

He vowed that no conspiracy or mischief would deter them from carrying out their constitutional responsibilities to a logical conclusion.

The statement read, “We wish to re-assure Ebonyians that the PDP members of Ebonyi State House of Assembly are intact and so should disregard the publication/rumors making the rounds that seven honorable members have withdrawn from the on-going constitutional exercise of the honorable House.

“We, the PDP members of Ebonyi State House of Assembly, do state that we are very much committed in our constitutional responsibility for good governance, rule of law, well being of our people, respect for the dignity of man and separation of powers amongst the three arms of government in our state.

“The assignment we have embarked upon is not self serving, but to protect the commonwealth of our dear Ebonyi State so as to reduce the increasing phenomenon of impoverishment of our people in the midst of plenty.

“Today, many of our children are out of school, civil servants on strike and the rate of unemployment is very high in the state, yet local government funds are diverted at will to private accounts, which have worsened in the last six months.”

In the impeachment notice which was served on the governor, 15 members of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly had accused Elechi of gross misconduct, including alleged fraud, embezzlement of public funds and disregarding the principle of separation of powers between three arms of government.

However, following an ex parte motion filed by Elechi, an Abakaliki High Court has restrained the Ebonyi State House of Assembly from proceeding with the impeachment proceedings, pending the determination of an application on the matter.