Enugu State governor, Sullivan Chime, on Sunday admitted that he stepped on many toes in the course of his eight-year stay in office.
Chime, Enugu State Governor
Every serious government must step on many toes, according to the governor.
Chime, who spoke at a valedictory thanksgiving mass at the Holy Ghost Cathedral, Enugu, however explained that he stepped on the concerned toes in order to succeed in his quest to transform the state.
He said he was satisfied that the people of the state appreciated what he described as the positive changes his administration brought to their lives.
Chime equally apologised to those he said he may have wrongly hurt “in pursuit of the greater good of the people.”
He noted that none of the policies or actions of his administration was deliberately designed to victimise anyone.
The governor said, “We cannot change the society without stepping on toes, every serious government must take necessary measures to correct the wrongs in the society, if not we will not have the new environment we are enjoying in Enugu today.
“So, I beg for forgiveness and understanding from those on whose toes we must have stepped on.
“They must understand that we did whatever we did for the benefit of all.”
Chime described as an act of God, the emergence of a member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, as his succesor.
According to him, the people of the state had prayed for a “worthy replacement” for himself.
But he also called for “intense prayers for the new administration,” stressing that while the peoples’ expectations were high, the steadily dwindling allocations from the Federal Government would make things difficult for the incoming government.
“Our resources are going down on a daily basis, so many states are unable to pay salaries because of dwindling federal allocations.
“So let us pray that we get it right at the centre so that it will trickle down to the states,” he said.
But, despite the challenges posed by the dwindling allocations from the federation account, Chime expressed confidence that Ugwuanyi would do better than he had done.
He, therefore, urged the people to continue to pray for Ugwuanyi and the state, in the face of the emerging challenges.
Thanking God, the people of Enugu State and the Church for the opportunity given to him to serve, and for their prayers and support, Chime said his greatest achievements lay “in not having disappointed the people.”
Earlier in his homily at the mass, which had Ugwuanyi and his deputy, Hon. Cecilia Ezeilo, in attendance, the Vicar-General of the Enugu Catholic Diocese, Monsignor Obiora Ike, said Chime “fulfilled his promises to the people of Enugu State.”
The cleric noted that Chime succeeded in restoring the “beauty, tranquility and civility” for which Enugu was previously known.
“It is common knowledge that the state receives about the least allocation from the Federal Government, but today we are bearing testimony to the good works that has been done with so little,” the priest said.
A former National Auditor of the Peoples Democratic Party, Barr. Ray Nnaji, has petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, seeking the investigation of Enugu State governor, Sullivan Chime, over allegations of ‘official corruption’.
A copy of the petition, which was made available to our correspondent, was dated May 5, 2015, and titled ‘Official corruption, misappropriation, embezzlement, stealing, forgery and criminal conversion against Governor Sullivan Chime and Chief Ikeje Asogwa (Enugu PDP chairman) – A clarion call for serious investigation’.
The petition was addressed to the chairman of the anti-graft agency.
Nnaji, who explained that he acted as “a patriotic Nigerian and an indigene of Enugu State,”urged the EFCC to intervene in the “open day robbery of the resources of the state by the governor, his close associates and relations.”
The PDP chieftain warned that, if the EFCC fails to take any action, two weeks after the receipt of the petition, he would go to court to compel the anti-corruption agency to comply with his request.
Allegations he asked the agency to investigate include “misappropriation of public funds worth over N12.8bn and forgery of public document (the supplementary appropriation law, 2012), to cover up same.”
The alleged forgery of the 2012 supplementary budget was cited by some members of the Enugu State House of Assembly when they moved to impeach the governor for gross misconduct on Monday.
Nnaji said in the petition, “Without budgetary provisions and appropriation law backing the said expenditure, Governor Sullivan Chime proceeded to spend public funds belonging to Enugu State to the tune of about N12.8bn in 2012 and misappropriated and diverted the sum into his private use without the required approval by the Enugu State House of Assembly.
“And in order to cover up this criminal and unconstitutional act, Governor Sullivan Chime and his cohort – Chief Ikeje Asogwa and others subsequently proceeded to forge a document titled ‘The Enugu State of Nigeria Supplementary Appropriation Law, 2012.”
“It is an incontrovertible fact that there is no record of debate of this law nor is there any record of passage of the bill preceding the law before it was passed into law for use by the governor.”
Nnaji also asked the EFCC to investigate the alleged inflation of the cost of some projects and stealing of public funds through the Enugu State Project Development and Implementation Unit, otherwise known as PD1
Enugu State Governor, Sullivan Chime, has broken his silence on the impeachment plot against him by 15 Lawmakers in Enugu State House of Assembly, over allegations of forgery of the 2012 supplementary budget and financial misconduct.
Governor Chime, who denied forging any budget document or tried borrowing any money barely three weeks to his exit, said the latest antics of the House of Assembly is as a result of his refusal to succumb to their monetary appeals after they had approved the loan.
According to the Governor, “Since last year September, the said eleven billion naira they are raising their voices against had been long approved by the Legislators and it is the same figure that is reflecting in the approved budget that you also have in the supplementary budget, which they are now referring to as fake”.
He also says that, though, he is yet to receive any impeachment notice, the moves by the Lawmakers against him will not prevail as the constitution requires a simple two third majority, which the house, as presently constituted, would find impossible to realise.
However, the Governor moved faster than the legislators as he hurriedly gathered eight of the lawmakers, who sat, and then impeached the Speaker, Honourable Eugene Odoh, and elected a new Speaker, Honourable Chinedu Nwamba.
As dirty as the brand of politics practiced in this country may be, there are some moral lessons we occasionally gain from it.
Though paradoxical, the reality remains that from this game we choose to describe as ‘dirty,’ comes some native wisdom we may never find elsewhere. For we have been lectured by Nigerian politics on subjects ranging from the futility of power, dangers of over-ambition, why nobody should be underestimated, effects of reckless speeches and actions to what goes around coming around.
Chime, Enugu State Governor
It had even tutored us on why it pays to sometimes run away from a battle so that we can live to fight another day. And from its teachings on the usefulness of enemies, we derive the saying that there is no permanent enemy in politics.
The list goes on and on… However, there is a new set of lessons which have emanated from the politics of the capital of old Eastern Nigeria. It is one that is cascading from a peace-deal which came like a thunderbolt. It came so hard that those on the negative part of the experience will need a miracle to recover from the shock and effect anytime soon. Anyway, that remains what you get when you throw circumspection and caution to the wind in seeking the downfall of somebody who has done you no harm.
That is to be expected when someone chooses to charter a case like we say in our local lingo. I’m sure had I known will be their song now, yet that, like they say, will by now be too late. The reported reconciliation between Governor Sullivan Chime and his estranged kinsman, Senator Ike Ekweremadu is what will be availing us the tremendous ‘take-away’ of this intervention.
The two respected leaders have been embroiled in a no-love-lost relationship sparked by Chime’s bid to replace Ekweremadu at the Senate even when he has successfully schemed out the Deputy Senate President from the race to become governor. Their animosity was so serious that the soul of Enugu was on the line. While Ekweremadu’s camp tried to be more diplomatic and restrained on the issue, Chime and gang were always on the offensive, acting like a classic Wike or even Fayose, as if Enugu has become Rivers or Ekiti.
Some of the governor’s aide wasted no time in siding with their boss. Their actions made it looked as if the only way to warming one’s way into Chime’s heart was by throwing one or two punches in the direction of Ekweremadu. Chime’s devotees went as far as threatening the business interests of Ekweremadu in the State and persecuting respected Enugu citizens who dared to identify with Ekweremadu.
So determined to please their Oga at the top were they that they orchestrated an attack on a health facility built by the People’s Senator. Monarchs presumed to be siding with him were not spared the fury of these aggressors whose actions enjoyed the tacit approval of Lion Building. So foolish were their actions that there was an instance when the Deputy Senate President came for a stakeholders meeting, only for the Chime loyalists to hurriedly depart from such gathering not wanting to be seen at the same event with their principal’s otherwise arch rival.
Yet, Ekweremadu took all these in his strides. Rather than dissipate energy on the bunch of riffraff perambulating the power corridors in Enugu, the man built his stronghold elsewhere. He went after the beacon that guarantees him the type of support that supersedes that of those who claim to control the grassroots. He was doing this at a time it was more like a curse to be an Abuja politician; at a time when those on ground were spoiling to control both the land and the air.
However, Ekweremadu and his co-travellers refused to be distracted. Rather than get sulked in by the fear that being in Abuja may not save them from the army of occupation who were seemingly taking over his homestead, the wise man held tight to what he already has and ended up attracting the sympathy of the higher principality.
So much so that when a high-ranking member of this principality came to Enugu for a spiritual event, the embattled Abuja politician was the one who got to be repeatedly referred to as “my husband’s brother.” This notwithstanding, the foot soldiers having been so intoxicated with the Sullivan wine failed to see the handwriting on the wall. They continued in the aggressive ways as if their object of aggression was elevated to the status of ‘the President’s brother’ because he was merely serving as a cupbearer to the President in Abuja.
But, before I proceed, permit me to draw your attention to the first of the inherent lessons in this very interesting tale: your greatest weakness can actually be your most valuable strength. Though, he appeared to have lost out in the power equation in his native Enugu state, the nation’s number five citizen knew his area of influence and got it harnessed into helping him reclaim what he seemed to have lost in his backyard.
This strategy adopted by Ekweremadu is one that brings back to memory the rope-a-dope style of Mohammed Ali. Just when the shallow-thinking rascals in Enugu thought they have bound their nemesis with a rope, he used the same rope to bind them completely. I sincerely doff my hat for Ekweremadu for such sagacity. Aside this, he was also mature enough to allow his oppressors win in some instances, knowing that their early victory at those instances would surely pave way for his eventual victory.
And so he allowed them to frivolously impeach one of his loyalists, Sunday Onyebuchi, from the exalted position of Deputy Governor amidst other long ropes he gave them. Happy with their accomplishment, the Chime people came again to replace another of Ekweremadu’s men, David Aja, with a certain Ikeje Asogwa from a position that naturally fell on Aja following the resignation of Vita Abba as PDP chairman in the State. It was at this point that even the forces of nature and propriety conspired to assist Ekweremadu fight his cause, without much input from him.
This drives home another home truth: most times fighting should be postponed to a time ripe enough for the forces of nature and goodwill to team up in making an oppressed to win effortlessly. Closely related to this is the fact that illegality and the culture of impunity cannot stand the test of time. Not even Sullivan’s mission to PDP secretariat to show the stooge he was insisting on installing as the state chairman of the party could save him and his gang as the national chairman of his party refused seeing him after he spent several hours waiting. What a pity! I’m sure by now he has come to realise there is always an extent to which all the power one has can take him. If not so, the incumbent governor wouldn’t have surrendered his ambition to take over Ekweremadu’s seat in the National Assembly.
He was so audacious and that got the best of him and forcefully humbled him before everyone else. It was indeed an inordinate audacity for him to seek to topple Ekweremadu whose legislative competence has led him into becoming the Speaker of ECOWAS parliament. I kept asking myself how Sullivan could have fared better than Ekweremadu in the Senate when the man’s gallantry in the Upper Chamber has made him the toast of every Igbo man. Indeed, Sullivan thought so much of himself by seeking to unseat the Deputy Senate President. He allowed pride to take over him, now he has been forced to eat the humble pie. If only he ruminated on the saying that pride goes before a fall… Nonetheless, he should be commended for hearkening to the sense of reason and backing out of the race for the Enugu West Senatorial Seat.
At least, that has somewhat saved his face. I can’t imagine what a shame it would have been for him to have lost to Ekweremadu at the polls. He can ask former Governor of Bauchi State, Adamu Mu’azu for terrible that can be. As for the overzealous aides and hangers-on of Chime who openly confronted Ekweremadu during the peak of his fallout with Chime, let them learn something from the fact that when come finally comes to become, everyone is expected to answer his or her father’s name. Let a word be enough for the wise.
Ugonnabo is a public affairs analyst who can be reached through ugonnabo.ngwu@yahoo.com
There were indications on Friday that Enugu State Governor, Sullivan Chime, has dropped his bid to go to the Senate in 2015.
Chime, Enugu State Governor
Chime, whose tenure expires in 2015, had been locked in a contest with Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, over the seat of the Enugu West Senatorial Zone.
The governor had already been screened for the Peoples Democratic Party senatorial election primaries by the party’s screening committee.
However, a few days to the primaries, reports emerged that Chime would no longer be participating in the election.
Following enquiries by our correspondent, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Chukwudi Achife, confirmed the development on Friday.
Achife confirmed to our correspondent that Chime was no longer running for Senate.
Our correspondent gathered that the development followed a peaceful agreement between Chime and Ekweremadu.
Sources in the Enugu State PDP told our correspondent that, in line with the said agreement, the governor will produce most of the party’s key candidates, including the flag bearer in the governorship election.
In exchange, Chime had to drop his senatorial bid.
It was learnt that the peace deal became imperative after an acrimonious battle for the control of the PDP in Enugu State, between Chime and Ekweremadu, threatened to undermine the party’s fortunes ahead of the 2015 elections.
The battle came to a head after the former Enugu State PDP chairman, Chief Vita Abba, resigned unexpectedly.
The party’s State Executive Committee, which is loyal to Chime, immediately appointed Chief Ifeanyi Asogwa as chairman to replace Abba, but the deputy chairman, Elder David Aja, who is a staunch Ekweremadu loyalist, protested, arguing that he should be the chairman.
Ekweremadu appeared to have handed over control of the party after the PDP National Working Committee endorsed Aja as acting chairman, giving him the powers to conduct the ward and national congresses in the state.
Although the SEC, which is loyal to Chime, insisted that the congresses did not hold, Aja, backed by Ekweremadu, forwarded names of delegates elected from the exercise to the PDP national leadership.
Following the development, both camps went to court to advance their positions, with an Abuja Federal High Court upholding the ward congresses, even as a related suit is pending before an Enugu High Court.
Before the current peace agreement came into effect, there were fears that the PDP might not be able to present candidates in 2015 as a result of the protracted legal dispute.
The chairman of the All Progressives Congress in Enugu State, Dr. Ben Nwoye, had at a news conference declared that the PDP would not be able to present candidates in the state.
However, the absence of major protests after the state house of assembly primaries is an indication that peace has returned to the Enugu State PDP.
ENUGU— Embattled Enugu State Deputy Governor, Mr. Sunday Onyebuchi, continued with his evidence before the impeachment panel, yesterday, revealing that Governor Sullivan Chime also operated poultry and piggery farms at Government House.
Enugu State Poultery
He told the panel that the government had since 2011 made annual budget for the maintenance of the poultry, adding that the funds were released and tendered the state’s budget from 2011 to 2014 to back his claims.
The deputy governor, however, informed the panel that the governor’s poultry was hurriedly evacuated shortly after the panel commenced sitting.
Onyebuchi told the 7-man panel headed by Mr. Uche Franklyn Oraekeiyi, that he had not committed any offence that could warrant his removal from government by impeachment, insisting that the poultry in his official residence and that of the governor were in existence before they came into government in 2007.
The deputy governor, who returned to the panel yesterday after he slumped last Wednesday midway into his evidence, dismissed all the allegations brought against him by the House of Assembly as totally false and baseless.
The House had commenced the impeachment proceeding on the allegations that the deputy governor operated a poultry farm at his official residence and flagrantly disobeyed the directives of the governor by refusing to represent him at the flag off of the second Niger bridge by President Goodluck Jonathan at Onitsha in March and at the July 6 meeting of South East Governors held in Enugu.
Speaking with journalists shortly after concluding his evidence before the panel sitting at the State High Court Complex, Onyebuchi said: “I have always said that this is a straight forward matter. One is the allegation of operating a poultry farm. We have been able to put the message across that the House of Assembly resolution is not a law and the resolution was not made available to me.
We were able to make the point that there is also poultry at Government House and the poultry at the Government House was evacuated with the commencement of the panel proceedings.”
“Today, I was able to present to the panel, other evidence to show that there was poultry at the Government House. I got copies of Enugu State government budget for 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 and in each of these budgets, you have evidence of the allocation for Government House poultry and piggery and amount attached to it and I was also able to prove that the amount was released. If they said there was no poultry, then let’s know why we have all these provisions all these years.”
Video coverage of 2nd Niger Bridge flag off
Also responding to the allegation that he refused to represent the governor at the flag off of the second Niger Bridge, Onyebuchi, who played video coverage of the event before the panel, also made reference to the live coverage of the event by the AIT, saying he was present at the event.
The deputy governor said he was never communicated in person, by telephone or by any other means to represent the governor at the South East Governor’s meeting during his vacation.
“He did not communicate to me in person, by telephone or whatever means, he never, while going on vacation that he will pass instructions to me through a third party and like I said, this is a straight forward matter and I believe the ball is in the court of the panel.
“It is for them to decide whether to stand on the side of truth, on the side of justice which most citizens of Enugu State are asking for. If they believe like most people say that might is right, whoever has power is right, we will see by the end of the day. I have not committed offence that will justify being removed by impeachment. I started working with the governor in 2007 and if I was not obedient to him, I don’t think he will nominate me again for the second term to run with him for another four years.
“Even when he was away on vacation in 2012 and 2013, I believe I represented him very well such that the letter he wrote to the House of Assembly when he came back, he commended me. I also received commendation from so many people; I also received commendation from the members of the state executive as well as members of the House of Assembly. I am hopeful that truth will triumph.”
ENUGU—There were indications, yesterday, that the deputy governor of Enugu State, Chief Sunday Onyebuchi, may be impeached any time from now as Governor Sullivan Chime has reportedly asked him to resign with immediate effect.
This came on a day members of Ebonyi State House of Assembly impeached the Speaker, Chukwuma Nwazunku.
The deputy governor’s sin, Vanguard exclusively gathered, is his decision to contest Enugu East senatorial election come 2015 against the governor’s preferred candidate and Chief of Staff, Mrs. Ifeoma Nwobodo.
Already, a top functionary of the House was said to have been mandated to collect signatures of his colleagues for the impeachment yesterday.
20 lawmakers sign impeachment notice
Already, 20 of the 24 members of the State House of Assembly have signed the impeachment notice against the deputy governor.
Sources said that the Speaker of the Assembly, Mr. Eugene Odoh and his 23 colleagues were summoned to a meeting convened by Governor Chime at the Governor’s Lodge, Enugu, where they were made to sign the impeachment notice.
“The lawmakers just rose from their meeting held at the Governor’s Lodge and I can tell you that the two-third majority needed to remove the Deputy Governor has been obtained and the impeachment notice has been signed,” a staff of the Assembly informed Vanguard last night.
Chairman, Information Committee of the State Assembly, Mr. John-Kelvin Ukuta, could not be reached for comments last night as he did not pick his call.
The Leader of the House, Mr. SKC Udeokoye, could also not be reached on his phone.
It was, however, gathered that the lawmakers would deliberate on the impeachment notice on the floor of the House today.
A dependable source told Vanguard yesterday that the plot to impeach the deputy governor through the State House of Assembly, had been intensified as the lawmakers were reportedly mobilised at the weekend to commence the process this week.
Disagreement
The silent disagreement between the governor and his deputy, which dates back to February last year when the governor returned from his over four months medical leave, was said to have been blown open last Wednesday when Onyebuchi was reportedly summoned by the governor and given a marching order to resign.
The source said: “There was an encounter between the governor and the deputy last Wednesday where they reportedly disagreed over the contest for the Enugu East senatorial election and other contentious issues between two of them.
“This incident was said to have been witnessed by the governor’s Special Adviser on Inter-governmental Affair, Rita Mba.
”As we gathered the deputy governor reportedly told the governor that he was determined to exercise his right to contest election into the senate in the coming elections but the governor was said to have voiced out his opposition to the move and went ahead to list what is regarded as Onyebuchi sins.
“He accused him of refusing to represent him at the last meeting of South East Governors’ Forum held at the Government House, Enugu, when he (Chime) embarked on his annual leave last month, in spite of the invitation sent to him by the Chief of Protocol.”
To this, the deputy governor was said to have told him that he declined to show up at the meeting because the governor did not give him any directive to act in his absence and couldn’t have taken instruction from a junior officer to represent the governor.
“The governor also frowned against the deputy governor’s suggestion to remove from office the Chief of Staff, Mrs. Ifeoma Nwobodo, during his absence last year, a development that forced him to return to the country, even when the doctors did not give him clearance to return to Nigeria at the time.
“He also frowned against the deputy’s refusal to heed his earlier advice not to venture into the Enugu East senatorial race, accusing him of associating with the opponents of his government,” said a source.
The source said the deputy governor was taken aback by the governor’s vituperations against him, though he was not totally surprised because “since he informed the governor about his senatorial ambition in April this year, their relationship appeared to have been strained.”
Deputy denied allegation
The deputy governor, the source further revealed, was said to have denied the allegations and told the governor pointblank that it was because of his senatorial ambition that he was being vilified for no just cause, in spite of his loyalty to the governor since the past seven years.
Apparently angered by the deputy governor’s response, it was gathered that Governor Chime asked him (Onyebuchi) to leave his office immediately or he would ask his security men to take him out to the Government House gate.
Sensing that the governor was enraged over his senatorial ambition, Onyebuchi reportedly left the office but the source said that a number of things happened between Wednesday and yesterday to make the deputy governor suspect that the governor had actually hatched a plot to remove him.
Vanguard further gathered that the state chairman of PDP, Chief Vita Abba, had last Thursday morning visited the deputy governor at his private residence to reinforce the governor’s directive to him to resign.
“The PDP Chairman told the deputy governor that the governor informed him of his directive to him (Onyebuchi) to resign and that he was very serious about it. He encouraged the deputy governor to resign as that will be better than being impeached but he rejected the advice,” said the source.
Vanguard learnt that the four policemen sent from Zone 9 Police Command, Umuahia, that had been on the deputy governor’s entourage since the past two years, were suddenly withdrawn that Thursday afternoon without the knowledge of the deputy governor and no one has given him any information regarding their withdrawal.
Contacts made to the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Chukwudi Achife, to comment on the alleged face-off between the governor and his deputy also proved abortive as he refused to reply the text and pick several phone calls made by our correspondent.
He later sent a short text message yesterday, saying “I have no such information.”
Sources close to government, however, argued that the Nigerian constitution is unambiguous on impeachment process and the appropriate arm of government charged with it. Our source also alluded to many misconducts by the Deputy governor and his blunt refusal to carry out directives given by the governor, the most recent being what happened during the last South East Governors Forum meeting in Enugu.
Ebonyi Speaker impeached
Also, in the nearby Ebonyi State, members of the State House of Assembly yesterday impeached the Speaker, Chukwuma Nwazunku.
18 of the 24 members of the House allegedly carried out the impeachment which was executed at 6am.
The members lifted the suspension of three members of the House before carrying out the impeachment.
The three members are Frank Onwe, Eni Uduma Chime and deputy speaker, Blaise Orji.
Frank Onwe moved the motion for the Speaker’s impeachment, which was seconded by the Minority Leader, Enyi C. Enyi.
Thereafter, Eni Uduma Chima, representing Afikpo South West, moved the motion for election of Helen Nwaobasi, who represents Abakaliki South state constituency, as the new speaker.The motion was seconded by Jerry Obasi.
However, there was an uproar in Ebonyi State government over the impeachment by 11am yesterday as the members who carried out the exercise made attempts to stop the impeached speaker from seeing the governor and also attending a function at the Exco chambers at Government House.
But for the timely intervention of security operatives, what could have led to a bloody confrontation was averted.
The erstwhile speaker was seen at a corner shielded away from any form of mayhem that would have erupted.
The 18 members who sat in the hallowed chambers of the Assembly by 6:30am and impeached the former speaker, also led a delegation to meet with Governor Martin Elechi of Ebonyi State but this was not actualised.
Addressing the press, Enyi, who represents Ezza North West, stated that the new speaker, Helen Obasi, who represents Abakaliki South, remained the authentic speaker and choice of the people.
The House, led by Obasi, was alleged to have been congratulated by the wife of Ebonyi State governor, Chief Josephine Elechi, over the recent development.
New members suspended
The new House leadership also suspended Mabel Aleke, reprenting Ohaukwu South; Ogbonnaya Nwifuru, representing Izzi West; Chukwuma Nwazuku, representing Ebonyi East; and Obasi Odefa, who represents Onicha East state constituency.
Governor yet to meet warring parties
At press time, the governor was yet to meet with the two warring groups of the state House of Assembly.
However, the embattled speaker, Nwazunku, described the action of the House members as illegal and unnecessary.
He said the purported impeachment did not hold water and could not be accepted, urging the people of the state to remain law abiding as the matter would soon be resolved.
The 18 lawmakers alleged that the embattled speaker was impeached for his high handedness, corrupt practices, and sell out to the executive arm of government, among others
This came on a day members of Ebonyi State House of Assembly impeached the Speaker, Chukwuma Nwazunku.