WAS there an impeachment plot against the speaker of the Enugu State House of Assembly over his reported rejection of the consensus on Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi or was it mischief makers at work?
By Austin Ogwuda, Enugu
THE popular Shakespearean quotation that, “there is no art
to find the mind’s construction in the face” obviously, played out at the resumed sitting of Enugu State House of Assembly on Thursday, October 9, 2014.
While the allegation of impeachment plot supposedly sponsored by the State executive arm of government against the Speaker of the Enugu House of Assembly, Mr. Eugene Odo was still fresh, the House returned from break to sit last Thursday.
The basis of the alleged moves against the speaker was his perceived effrontery in opposing the choice of Mr. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi as the consensus gubernatorial candidate of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP for Enugu State as facilitated by Governor Sullivan Chime.
Odo who is in the contest for the governorship ticket had allegedly taken issues with the choice of Ugwuanyi and hence the alleged moves against him said to be spearheaded by the agents of the administration in Enugu.
So, when the House resumed last Thursday, eyes were keenly watching out for a possible drama from Odo and his supposed antagonists especially the House Leader, Mr. Sunday Ude-Okoye, who had been accused of collecting signatures to effect the removal of Odo.
But last Thursday nothing happened until Ude-Okoye moved for the adjournment of the House, an opportunity that allowed him to address the speculations around his reported moves against the speaker.
Speaking during the motion of adjournment, he categorically denied the insinuations saying “I want to state categorically that it is all lie. That Mr.Ude-Okoye of Awgu North (Leader) has never been in anywhere where the impeachment of Mr. Speaker was discussed.”
Describing it as “pure figment of the imagination of those politicians whose stock in trade is to knock heads together and heat up the polity,” he said: “My distinguished colleagues, I want to say categorically that I did not collect any signature for the impeachment or removal of Mr. Speaker or any member of this hallowed chamber.
I want to also let the press know and they should also note it that the 24 members of this House of Assembly have been working harmoniously and as it is today, the 9th day of October 2014, there is no divisibility among members of Enugu State House of Assembly.
Following him, about ten other members of the House spoke in condemnation of the purported impeachment plot and washed their hands off it completely.
Some even feigned ignorance about the move while a female member said, she only heard about it when she stepped into the chambers that morning and the moment it came up for discussion. She went further to say that she had travelled to her village during the recess to cool off.
The spate of denials, however, took another shape when a member, Mr. Matthew Ugwueze, representing Igbo-Eze South constituency in the House came out openly to confirm that the impeachment plot was really true. He confirmed that he (Ugwueze) was actually approached to position himself to succeed Odo being that the two are from the same Enugu North axis of the State where the office is zoned to.”
I received a text message that I should position myself to assume the Speaker position because the Speaker is going to be impeached and I replied thus, ‘You are a mischief maker by writing to me without a name. You are a fool,’ and he replied ‘You are a chicken-hearted politician but don’t go ahead to panic, keep it to your heart.’
Immediately, he mentioned ‘chicken hearted politician’, the atmosphere changed as members cringed apparently in reference to the recent impeachment of the erstwhile deputy governor of the state, Mr. Sunday Onyebuchi whose removal was styled as Chicken Impeachment.
At the end of the debate on the issue which lasted for about one and half hours, the speaker dismissed calls for an investigation saying it was unnecessary.
That, however, has led to the question on whether there was actually a plot to suppress the alleged impeachment plot.
As some asked, could there be smoke without fire? Was it not true that agents of the State government moved in quickly and m opped up copies of the newspapers that published the story that fateful Tuesday morning and what was the aim of the mop up if there were no hands of Esau and voice of Jacob? Finally, who chickened out and jumped ship?
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