Enugu dep gov removal plot: The inside story Jude Ossai The impeachment plot against the Enugu State deputy governor, Sunday Onyebuchi, has thrown up a lot of issues with several gladiators in the polity warming up for a big battle. JUDE OSSAI digs into the inside story of the intriguing plot. WILL the deputy governor of Enugu State, Sunday Onyebuchi, throw in the towel? Are the Enugu State legislators justified in their bid to sack the deputy governor? Why did Governor Sullivan Chime want his deputy to go? These are some of the posers many residents of Enugu metropolis and beyond continue to throw since the move to remove the deputy governor, Onyebuchi, became public on Tuesday, 15 July. Investigations revealed that prior to the open confrontation, there had been a cold war between the deputy governor and his boss, despite the fact that the deputy governor held the forte for the latter while he was overseas for annual leave/medical treatment. Inside sources told Sunday Tribune that trouble for the deputy governor might have begun when the Chief of Staff, Mrs Ifeoma Nwobodo, got wind of his 2015 senatorial ambition as she was nursing the same. Both Onyebuchi and Nwobodo are secretly working towards getting the senatorial ticket of Enugu-East from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), a situation that reportedly set the duo on collision course. Perhaps, it is against that backdrop that the order by the state government that the poultry farm operated by the deputy governor since 2007 in the premises of the Government House be evacuated did not come to many as a surprise. However, the impeachment notice by the State Assembly added a new dimension to the crisis brewing in the top echelon of the state government as 22 members of the 24-member legislature signed the notice served on the deputy governor. Rising from their sitting, Speaker of the House, Eugene Odoh, ordered that the Clerk of the House, Christopher Chukwurah, to serve a notice of impeachment on the deputy governor for the alleged abuse of office and disrespect for constituted authority. Members recalled: “By a resolution of the Enugu State House of Assembly at its plenary on Tuesday, 12th February, 2013, the Enugu State House of Assembly prohibited the maintenance and operation of commercial livestock poultry farm within residential neighbourhoods in Enugu metropolis in promotion of public health standards; which resolution was further accepted by the government for implementation.” According to the legislators, “consequent upon the intimidation of the relevant officials of the government by the deputy governor in respect of the matter aforesaid, the governor of Enugu State (hereinafter referred to as “the governor”) via letters with reference number: GHE/CAO/31/239 and GHE/CAO/31/240 dated 24/12/2013 and 27/12/2013 respectively, directed the deputy governor to relocate the commercial poultry farm out of the premises of his government quarters, which is also within the general premises of the Government House, Enugu, and adjacent to Governor’s office. “The deputy governor further defied the directive herein, and in a most discourteous manner, in utter disregard for the office of governor, responded via his letter 8/1/2014, insisting that he would not relocate his commercial poultry farm from the premises of his official residential quarters.” The Assembly members said that the deputy governor, apart from inviting the press to castigate the government, also neglected to carry out his functions a directed by the governor, pursuant to Section 193 (1) of the constitution. They also said that on 11 March, the deputy governor was directed by the governor to represent him at the flag-off ceremony of the construction of the 2nd Niger Bridge in Onitsha by President Goodluck Jonathan, but he refused to attend the event. According to them, the deputy governor also declined to represent his boss at the South-East Governors’ Forum held at the Lion Building, Enugu on 6 July. “The deputy governor persists in defiance of lawful directives issued to him by the governor, which defiance has adversely affected and will continue to affect the smooth running of government; and he will continue to do so if not removed from office”, the lawmakers concluded. Since the impeachment process began, criticisms have continued to trail it, both from the opposition and human rights groups. The first salvo came from the All Progressives Congress (APC) where the deputy governor was said to be eying a space, if he eventually throws in the towel. While condemning in its entirety the impeachment notice, APC South-East Zonal Spokesman, Osita Okechukwu described the development as worrisome and disturbing. Okechukwu said allegations like disobedience of the directive prohibiting the maintenance of commercial livestock in residential quarters and disobedience of lawful directives to represent Governor Sullivan Chime in the South-East Governors Forum as well as the flag-off of the 2nd Niger Bridge were flimsy. “Whereas, we are not holding brief for Chief Onyebuchi, the APC South-East is of the candid view that the items listed are flimsy allegations; therefore we appeal to the House to withdraw the flimsy petitions forthwith”, he added. Angrily, the Zonal Director of the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Olu Omotayo, noted: “In a decent and normal clime, with the African Independent Television (AIT) video recording which showed that the deputy governor of Enugu State was present at the ceremony of 11 March 2014, where the construction of the 2nd Niger Bridge in Onitsha was flagged off by the President; the House of Assembly would have tendered an immediate apology to the deputy governor, the people of the state and Nigerians as a whole. This is institutional embarrassment to the nation.” To many pundits, the ongoing restiveness in government circles in the state might not be unconnected with the ambition of individuals and the struggle for who controls the political structure ahead of the 2015 general elections. It was gathered that although both Senator Ekweremadu and Governor Chime are yet to make their senatorial ambitions public, the rivalry between the two political leaders has continued to grow as there are insinuations by some members of the public that the plot to remove the deputy governor might be linked with his perceived loyalty to the deputy Senate president. The theory is that easing out Onyebuchi would weaken the front of the deputy Senate president who is said to be planning to retain tghe seat of Enugu-West Senatorial district, a position the incumbent governor is also said to be plotting to step into after serving out his second tenure. Interestingly, while Governor Chime’s nephew, Honourable Chime Orji, led the pack of 21 lawmakers to sign the impeachment notice, Senator Ekweremadu’s brother, Matthias, declined to append his signature to it. As things stand, many heads are expected to roll as leaders of both warring parties are not ready to shift ground with lawmakers insisting that they are on the right course. Apparently disgusted by the alleged evasion of service of impeachment notice by the deputy governor, the speaker of the House of State Assembly, Odoh, after reviewing the position of the House, last Thursday, re-ordered that the Clerk of the House, Chukwurah, to serve on him (deputy governor) the notice through substituted means. Meanwhile, the deputy governor, in his reaction, maintained that the maintenance of poultry farms was more or less a tradition in Government Houses in Enugu, since most of them were built with facilities housing an agricultural unit by the government of then Premier, Sir Michael Okpara. Besides, he wondered why there were no complaints since 2008, until recently when the impeachment plot began. On the allegation of disobedience to the governor’s lawful directive, he maintained nothing could be farther from the truth, insisting that he had always represented the governor at events when specifically instructed to do so.
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 13:27:35 +0000
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