The Imo State House of Assembly has commenced impeachment process against the deputy governor, Eze Madumere.
The Deputy Speaker, Ugonna Ozuruigbo, who moved the motion that the impeachment process be served on the embattled deputy governor, accused him, among other things, of abandoning his duties and office as the state’s number two citizen for a long time.
The lawmaker representing Oru West LGA, Donatus Onuigwe, who opposed the impeachment proceedings, was suspended by the Speaker immediately.
The plenary, which is tension-soaked, is currently ongoing.
Armed security men had barricaded the entry and exit points of the complex.
The lawmakers also accused Madumere of:
–Refusing to carry out official duties assigned to him by the governor
–Refusal to attend State Executive Council Meetings
–Refusal to hold meetings with the governor and commissioners
–Imprisonment for theft in the USA.
The Speaker, Acho Ihim, said that the petition met and surpassed the required one-third as provided for in Section 188 (2) 11 of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
The Assembly is made up of 27 members, but four members who were sympathetic to Madumere were, penultimate weekend, suspended for “unpaliamentary conduct,” paving way for the impeachment proceedings against the deputy governor.
A six-man committee headed by member, representing Obowo LGA, Kennedy Ibe, was set up to probe the allegations and report back to the House within seven days.
Madumere recently fell out with Rochas Okorocha over his succession plans.
While Okorocha wants his chief of staff, Uche Nwosu, to succeed him, Madumere is laying claims to the governorship position, thereby causing problems between them.
Meanwhile, the Special Assistant on Media to the Deputy Governor, Uche Onwuchekwa, said the office of the Deputy Governor has not been served any notice of impeachment and other allegations levelled against his principal are malicious, concocted and false.
The statement said that the deputy governor had not been convicted anywhere in the world of any civil matter, not to mention a criminal one.
Madumere said that the two times he had been clamped into detention were mainly to save Governor Rochas Okorocha from embarrassment.
According to him, the allegations “were just to call the dog a bad name in order to hang it.”
The statement reads in part, “By our records, the Deputy Governor of Imo State, Prince Eze Madumere, has never abdicated any of his responsibilities.
“There are laid down procedures through which a Deputy Governor or any member of the executive Council can be invited for Executive Council Meeting. We hereby state that the Deputy Governor has never been invited for such meetings, either through a memo or via any official notices and thereby cannot stand against the deputy governor within the period in review.
“Refusal to attend, and to hold meetings with the governor is, to say the least, another exercise in triviality as the deputy governor cannot force himself on the governor, especially when he has been tagged a pariah in the government circle.
“To this extent, where the Deputy Governor’s inputs are needed, there are right procedures through which he could be reached.
“The most embarrassing among the spurious allegations is the annoying allegation of concealment of felonious conduct affecting the presentation of self as eligible candidate of office of Deputy Governor of Imo State.
“The Deputy Governor of Imo State, Prince Eze Madumere, has never been convicted of any civil matter, let alone, theft.
“We are pained to state that the two occasions that the Deputy Governor had to go through the pains of losing his freedom in detention were all in the course of saving Owelle Rochas Okorocha from public disgrace.
“It will be recalled that Prince Madumere, shortly after Achike Udenwa’s victory at the polls in 1999, had to face contempt of Court for failure to make it to the court.
“He was in detention in the United States for about one month all because he was delayed by Governor Okorocha. To the glory of God, Prince Madumere was acquitted of any wrongdoing.
“The second time he had to stoop low so that Governor Okorocha might be spared the humiliation of getting incarcerated, Prince Madumere again yielded and was detained for almost two months on phony charges, which he was also absolved of.”
