The alleged governorship ambition of the Speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly, Acho Ihim, has reportedly thrown the state’s legislature into confusion with a section of the lawmakers threatening to impeach him.
Our correspondent gathered that a group of lawmakers in the assembly recently held a closed door meeting in the residence of a prominent politician in the state, where the alleged ambition of the speaker to succeed Governor Rochas Okorocha was reviewed.
It was learnt that the lawmakers at the meeting concluded that the incumbent speaker’s governorship ambition had distracted him from the functions of his current office and had also “reduced” the Assembly to a mere appendage of the governor’s office.
A source at the meeting, who pleaded anonymity, disclosed that the lawmakers at the meeting also resolved to begin impeachment proceedings against the incumbent speaker by collecting signatures to carry out their threat if the speaker failed to tender his resignation voluntarily.
The source said, “The lawmakers are not happy with the speaker’s behaviour these days because of the way he has been running the House. Meanwhile, they believe that his closeness to the governor has robbed members of the House their legitimate entitlement. And they feel that the speaker’s hands are tied because of what he is expecting from the governor.
“Inasmuch as we are not against him nursing any ambition, in a situation where such ambition is undermining the functions of his office, he should resign or face impeachment. His actions have ridiculed the House enough and we cannot take it anymore. As such, it has become our positive stand to throw him out of the speakership position.”
