By Peter Okutu
ABAKALIKI-The Peoples Democratic Party,(PDP), Ebonyi State chapter,
Monday, said the impeached speaker of the state House of Assembly, Rt.
Hon.Chukwuma Nwazunku was never impeached.
It said the issue that led to the said impeachment was not good enough to justify
any attempt for his removal.
Nwazunku was impeached on 21 July by 18 out of the 24 members of the house
but he has continued to describe the action as illegal.
But the party after a meeting with the house members told reporters that its
findings showed that the Speaker was never impeached.
The party’s position was made by the state Governor, Chief Martin Elechi at
the party’s state secretariat in Abakaliki yesterday.
Elechi also maintained that Chukwuma Nwazunku remains the Speaker of the
Assembly.
The Governor added that the decision to reinstate Hon. Chukwuma Nwazunku
as the authentic speaker of the house is not negotiable.
His words; “Today being the eleventh day of August, 2014 exactly three weeks
we woke up to hear the purported impeachment of speaker of the our House of
Assembly Rt. Hon. Chukwuma Nwazunku.
“Ever since then there has been reactions from all manner of people from, the
informed, the uninformed and ill informed. We have read from the pages of the
newspapers of various comments and reactions from so on and so forth.
Therefore, we as a party, we as a government remained calm and did every
thing to unravel what led to the alleged impeachment of the speaker”.
“We interview both sides and they barred their minds and spoke frankly. On
our own part, we believed that the issue that lead to the alleged impeachment of
the speaker were not good enough to justify any attempt of impeachment. We
are also convinced that the allegations which the members had against him was
in all respect improper and unacceptable”.
“We also realized our duty and obligation to ensure peace in Ebonyi state not of
course to deny the right of the Honorable house to change its leadership as at
and when it deems necessary”.
“But we do not appropriate blames at that stage. We simply met with our elders
and principal stakeholders in PDP and in executive arm of government by
extension the entire Ebonyi state”.
“We also gave rooms for speculations to know if we are alive to our
responsibilities. We have given rooms as to whether we are capable of holding
the state. But these are laughable opposition even though in democracy, you
allow all options to prevail because everybody has a right to what he thinks or
believes in”.
“Having considered all these and in the interest of justice, peace and fair play to
prevail, we as a government, we as a party hereby state and affirm that Right
Honourable Chukwuma Nwazunku was never impeached as being alleged. So he
remains the Speaker of Ebonyi State Assembly and we shall continue to work
with him”.
But the Minority Leader of the house, Hon Enyi C. Enyi described the party’s
interference in the matter as unconstitutional.
“It is unconstitutional for anybody who is not the member of the house to
interfere in its internal affairs”.
He added that no person except court of law can declare the impeachment of
Nwazunku illegal.
source: www.vanguardngr.com/2014/08/nwazunku-never-impeached-says-ebonyi-pdp-gov-elechi/