The seven-man panel to investigate allegations of misconduct against the Deputy Governor of Enugu State, Mr. Sunday Onyebuchi, began sitting Wednesday. But it banned the media from covering the proceedings.
This came as speculations became rife Wednesday that Governor Sullivan Chime may have nominated one of his personal aides from Isiogbo Nara, Nkanu West council as a replacement for Onyebuchi.
The aide (name withheld), whose father served as the chairman of the Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission (ENSIEC) hails from the same community with Onyebuchi and has served in various appointive capacities since the administration began in 2007.
The sitting of the Enugu impeachment panel which was billed for 9:00 a.m. yesterday was delayed till about 10:43 a.m.
Although none of the parties involved in the matter had arrived, the panel’s Chairman, Mr. Oraeke Uche, apologised for delay in starting the sitting and reiterated the mission of the committee as “not a tool for political witch-hunt.”
He said: “We will give fair hearing to all the parties to prove or defend the allegations as the case may be. Nobody should entertain any fear.
“It is an investigative sitting, we will not hold public sittings; after today, there will be restrictions, we may not allow the press; the only people we shall allow here are the members of the Enugu State House of Assembly, the deputy governor or their lawyers.”
Apparently not happy that parties in the matter were not available, a Director of Civil Litigation in the state Ministry of Justice, Innocent Eze, who represented the state wanted to know how the panel served notices on them.
He said: “Ordinarily, there is supposed to be evidence of service of notices of the sitting on the parties involved. So, I don’t know whether there is proof of service from the records of the panel.”
The panel’s chairman said there was no proof of service, stressing that since the issue of service was “very fundamental”, it had to be tackled appropriately.
The panel, therefore, ordered that “a summons be served on the speaker of the Enugu State House of Assembly and the deputy governor as well as any other witness in the matter.”
It further ordered that if personal service was not possible on the parties, especially the deputy governor, a substituted means should be involved.
It identified the means to include pasting the notice at the deputy governor’s lodge, at his private residence and on the door of his office. The sitting will continue today. – Guardian.
