- Gov acted in state’s interest- Spokesman
Members of the Imo State House of Assembly, who recently impeached the state Deputy Governor, Prince Eze Madumere, have accused Governor Rochas Okorocha of reneging on an earlier agreement to make one of them, who is the Speaker, Hon. Acho Ihim, the new deputy governor of the state.
Our correspondent learnt that the aggrieved lawmakers, who had since been complaining in hushed tones for fear of reprisals from the state government, expressed shock and disappointment when Governor Okorocha failed to nominate the Speaker of the Assembly, Ihim, as a replacement for Madumere.
They had prepared to pop champagne and clink glasses, but they were disappointed when the name of the deputy governor-designate was announced
It was gathered that an agreement was earlier reached between the governor and the lawmakers to cede the deputy governor’s position to the speaker, while that of speakership would be given to the former Majority Leader, Luggard Osuji (Owerri Municipal), if they succeeded in impeaching the embattled deputy governor.
But instead, the governor dashed the hope of the lawmakers by allegedly deceiving them to carry on with Madumere’s impeachment before the Clerk of the House brought in a sealed envelope containing the name of the deputy governor designate, Callistus Ekenze.
The two principal officers of the Assembly were penciled down as possible beneficiaries from the agreement allegedly reached with Governor Okorocha because of the active role they played in the impeachment saga.
It was learnt that Governor Okorocha, who nominated Ekenze, the head of civil service; and from Mbaitoli, where Madumere also hails from, picked him to assuage the already tense situation in the area considered to be indisputably the most populous in Imo State.
However, the governor’s action, according to some of the aggrieved lawmakers, who spoke under strict condition of anonymity, is not in line with their expectations. They are now disappointed that the governor reneged on their earlier agreement to appoint a member of the House, particularly from the Owerri zone, to replace Madumere.
As the lawmakers anxiously awaited the disclosure of content of the governor’s letter, which was sealed in an envelope and strictly monitored to ensure that the lawmakers did not have any bit of information about its content until the completion of the proceedings for Madumere’s impeachment, little did they know that their expectation had been dashed, a source close to the House disclosed.
It was gathered that when the governor’s letter was eventually read on the floor of the House by the Clerk, the lawmakers became crestfallen and disappointed.
“They had prepared to pop champagne and clink glasses, but they were disappointed when the name of the deputy governor-designate was announced, instead of the person they had expected the governor to name,” the source, who pleaded not to be named, said.
Another source close to the Imo Government House told our correspondent that the lawmakers were allegedly given N5 million each to execute the impeachment of the deputy governor, even though some lawmakers such as Bruno Okeoha claimed that they had returned the N3million given to them for the impeachment of the deputy governor.
The Speaker, Hon. Ihim, had earlier told our correspondent that none of the lawmakers got such gratification from the governor, but the source maintained that it was assumed that they had been settled with the kick-back they allegedly received earlier from the governor.
Confirming the position of the aggrieved Imo Assembly members at the weekend, the Peoples Democratic Party lawmaker representing Aboh Mbaise State Constituency, Mike Iheanaetu, described the governor’s decision to renege on an earlier agreement with the state legislators as disappointing.
Iheanaetu told our correspondent that the lawmakers had thought that Governor Okorocha would keep his own side of the earlier agreement by nominating the Speaker, Ihim, or the Majority Leader, Luggard Osuji, as new deputy governor or any other Assembly member from Owerri West or Owerri North as Madumere’s replacement.
The lawmaker said, “I am equally disappointed that since the governor was bent on removing his deputy, he would replace him with somebody from Owerri zone by appointing the deputy majority leader or the speaker.
“In the event where he (Madumere) had to be replaced, we were looking at Luggard or the Speaker or it should have been given to Owerri West or Owerri North. To be fair, the governor should have picked either Luggard or the Speaker.”
Gov acted in state’s interest- Spokesman
Reacting to the claims by the Imo Assembly members, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Sam Onwuemeodo, said that the aggrieved lawmakers knew that the matter was a sensitive issue.
Onwuemeodo said that the decision the governor took on the choice of his new deputy was in the overall interest of Imo state.
“I was there when the matter was brought up in the house. They would have proposed it, but there and then, they approved it and on the day of swearing-in, they all came. If they were annoyed or disappointed, why did they attend the function? So, what the governor did was for the overall interest of the state; not for selfish reasons,” he said.
Meanwhile, The Point was reliably informed at the weekend that there was a stalemate in the reconciliation moves between Governor Okorocha and the coalition group over the party structure in the unresolved congresses conducted by the two groups of the All Progressives Congress in the state.
While Governor Okorocha is insisting on 60 /40 sharing formula, the coalition group is clamouring for 50/50 share of the structure.
However, it was gathered also that there had been a crack in the coalition group as Senators Ifeanyi Araraume and Hope Uzodinma had fallen apart, as they tried to outsmart each other over who controls the structure, if the coalition and the governor’s group eventually reconciled.
It appears that the APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, and President Muhammadu Buhari are backing Uzodinma, said to have been spending his money to woo back the APC senators that have defected to the
PDP.
It was reliably gathered that Senator Uzodinma, who is currently representing Orlu Senatorial zone (Imo West), is lobbying to become the Senate President after the expected impeachment of the incumbent Senate President Bukola Saraki.
Also, Governor Okorocha, it was gathered, is wooing Senator Benjamin Uwajumogu, the only APC senator from the South East (representing Okigwe zone) to jettison Senator Araraume, who is making serious moves to join the All Progressives Grand Alliance, if the ongoing negotiation
fails.
Okorocha’s gambit, it was further learnt, is to use Senator Uwajumogu’s support to push out Senator Uzodinma in a bid to clear the coast for his ambition to get elected into the Senate
in 2019.
