The plot to impeach Speaker of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Tonye Isenah, has thickened following his refusal to step down as directed by Governor Seriake Dickson and leaders Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders.
It was gathered that lawmakers loyal to the governor and the PDP had been mobilised to carry out an impeachment proceeding against Isenah, who had insisted that his resignation would not add any value to the PDP’s quest to win the November 16 election.
It was also learnt that external forces, powered by the opposition, were planning to protect Isenah to enable him retain his office.
Some of the lawmakers were also said to be against the move to remove the speaker, whom they described as a good fellow, and had vowed to stand against any motion to actualise the plot.
Isenah was said to have tried to convene a sitting of the House yesterday to discuss issues and adjourn the House till further notice. But PDP leaders, who got wind of the development, reportedly prevailed on their loyal lawmakers not to attend the sitting, which failed to hold for lack of capacity to form a quorum.
The speaker came under intense pressure to relinquish his office in the House of Assembly to enable his party balance political equations ahead of the November 16 election. He was said to have reached an agreement with Dickson and other PDP leaders to vacate his office in the event that Senator Douye Diri, who hails from his Kolokuma-Opokuma Local Government Area, becomes the party’s governorship candidate.
After Diri won the primaries, PDP leaders were said to have asked Isenah to surrender his position to another lawmaker from Southern Ijaw to enable the party garner votes from the council. But Isenah insisted he would not let go of his position before the poll.
The speaker, in a statement by his media aide, Aotendeike Boloigha, said he had served the PDP faithfully and was yet to see how his resignation would help the party in the poll.
But PDP leaders against Isenah were reportedly determined to force him out of the office to make way for a lawmaker from Southern Ijaw to brighten the party’s chances at the poll.
But a source said Isenah’s travails were based on his refusal to initiate an impeachment proceeding against the Deputy Governor, Rear Admiral John Jonah (rtd).
“It is not just about an agreement to step down; it is about the deputy governor. The powers that be accused the deputy governor of planning to defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC) as an incumbent deputy governor. They don’t want that to happen.
“There are insinuations that Jonah wants to join the APC and contest the Bayelsa East senatorial election, which will be vacant if the APC wins the governorship election because the incumbent senator is the running mate to the APC candidate, David Lyon. So, the party leaders want Jonah out of the way but Isenah is refusing to be used to carry out the process,” he said.
Isenah’s aide on New Media, Dickson Opuene, in his social media posts, also hinted that the speaker was undergoing the travails for refusing PDP leaders’ request to impeach the deputy governor. The Nation
