- Councillors suspend three colleagues indefinitely
Members of the legislative arm of the Warri South Local Government of Delta State have suspended three of their colleagues over an alleged plot to impeach the leaders of the house.
This development occurred some months after majority of the councilors impeached their former leader, Hon. Sunday Aguweye; the Deputy Leader, Richarch Pessu and other key leaders and replaced them with a new leadership against the interest of some of their political leaders.
The three legislators, who have been asked to proceed on indefinite suspension pending the conclusion of the investigations against them, are Hons. Darlington Semuge, Hesse Edah, and Jude Onovughe, the only first-time councillor amongst the three embattled lawmakers, as well as a loyalist of the President General of the Okere-Urhobo Kingdom, Chief Emmanuel Okumagba.
In a letter addressed to the Chairman of Warri South Local Government, Hon. Matthew Mofe Edema, the legislators cited Order (i & iii), pages 15 and 16 of the Standing Order of the House, as the basis for their action.
In the letter, dated January 10, and signed by the Clerk of the House, Affor Godfrey Maku, the lawmakers insisted that the embattled members have been suspended from all legislative functions and benefits, except salaries.
The Point gathered that the motion to suspend the three councilors was moved by the chairman, House Committee on Public Petition/Public Account, Hon. Kingsley Edafiadjebra and seconded by Hon. Kingsley Tenumah, a close ally of one of the suspended councilors, Hon. Semuge.
The House immediately set up an Adhoc Disciplinary Committee under the chairmanship of the Deputy Leader of the House, Hon. Matthew Dada. Other members of the disciplinary committee are Hons. Romeo Ogedegbe, Kingsley Edafiadjebra and Daniel Alidu.
But in a swift reaction, one of the suspended councilors, representing GRA Ward, Hon. Edah, popularly known as Koffi, told The Point that impeachment was not an offence.
He said, “They impeached people to come in and nobody suspended them. They did not have two-third majority to carry out any suspension. They only formed quorum to seat and not to take decision.
“Their action is illegal, unconstitutional, null and void. I’m not suspended and they have no legal right to do that, because what they had was only one-third majority, which is not up to the required two-third majority to suspend or impeach, as the law stipulates.”
