- I’m still in charge, Orji insists as Ichita opens up
Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
The raging political war in the Abia State House of Assembly worsened Wednesday as both camps at the centre of the tussle held parallel sittings.
Embattled Speaker, Rt. Hon Chinedum Orji who presided over the plenary at the Assembly complex, insisted that he remained the Speaker, and his purported impeachment of no consequence.
The new Speaker, Hon Chukwudi Apugo, and the lawmakers loyal to him, met at an undisclosed location in Umuahia.
While Apugo announced the suspension of Orji, and the six lawmakers loyal to him, Orji said Apugo and his loyalists who were with suspended Tuesday could not legally engage in any legislative work until their suspension is lifted.
Ikengaonline had reported that the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Ifeanyi Uchendu who had presided over the Speaker’s impeachment, was also later impeached and suspended by the Speaker and his loyalists that met at the Assembly complex.
Meanwhile the member representing Aba South state constituency, Hon Obinna Ichita (APGA), has denied speculations in some quarters that Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu was sponsoring the lawmakers that impeached the former Speaker.
Hon. Ichita who is a staunch critic of Ikpeazu said he could not have been possibly bought over to work for the Governor.
According to him, the decision to impeach Orji was borne out of genuine desire to move the legislature forward.
Ichita said that the House belonged to Abia State as and not anybody’s private estate.
“It’s easy for people to engage in propaganda. Are we sponsored by the Governor to do what?
“If somebody tells you that the Governor is sponsoring me won’t you be surprised? You know how my relationship with the Executive has been, and if you hear that the Governor is sponsoring me, Obinna Ichita, won’t you be shocked? To the best of my knowledge, there is nothing like the Governor sponsoring us.”
According to Ichita, the former Speaker was impeached for allegedly locking up the House for four months.
He accused the former Speaker of not carrying other members of the House along.
“Which House of Assembly in Nigeria has been under lock and key for four months? It’s not proper for you to lock the House of Assembly for the past four months. So, for the past four months, the House hasn’t sat, and that’s not appropriate.
“The Judiciary has collapsed and you want the legislative arm to also collapse. And we have a struggling Executive arm.”
Ichita said there were some urgent matters that needed attention of the House, and lampooned the Speaker for not seeing wisdom to convene the House.
“We have a lot of businesses to treat. We have heard so much. Members felt the former Speaker needed to convene the House so we can demand answers to the following questions: “Why should Abia workers not be paid even when the state receives statutory allocations?
“Why Board of Internal Revenue reported N6.2 billion in the first quarter of this year. If we have this kind of money why can’t we pay workers?
“Why is it that we are reading a planned local government election in the state on the pages of newspapers? We heard that Commissioners have been appointed into the Abia State Independent Electoral Commission, ABSIEC, and the House never screened the person in accordance with the law.
“We also heard that the Executive has secured a loan of 50 million US dollars. Who gave the approval for such a facility? From which institution was the facility secured? What are the implications to Abians?
“So, there are lots of questions that needed to be answered and it made no sense locking the House when you have such issues to tackle.
“This is as transition period. Shouldn’t we make sure that things are in order for the in-coming administration to have a seamless take off?”
Hon. Ichita also spoke on some of the far-reaching decisions taken by the lawmakers led by Hon. Apugo when they met at the plenary.
“We met today (Wednesday) and changed the Majority Leader, Hon. Solomon Akpulono. He was also suspended.
“The impeached Speaker and all seven of them who met yesterday were suspended.
“We suspended them for engaging in a purported plenary yesterday. They didn’t have the quorum. They were only seven.
“The new Speaker has also dissolved all the standing committees of the House, and reconstituted the following committees: “Committee to review the activities of the House in the past four years headed by the Speaker of the sixth Assembly, Rt. Hon. Chikwendu Kanu; Committee on Appropriation chaired by Kennedy Njoku; and the Committee on Anti-Corruption and Public Accounts headed by myself, Ichita.
“We are swinging into action immediately because we have two weeks to review what happened.”
Asked where the lawmakers loyal to Apugo met, and why they chose to sit outside the House of Assembly, Ichita said the venue of meeting for lawmakers did not matter.
“Section 92 of the Constitution that talks about the impeachment of the Speaker did not make mention of the venue. It’s silent about that.
“It’s just like the election petition tribunal that has relocated from Abia to Abuja. Does that in anyway invalidate any pronouncement of the tribunal? The law is silent on the venue. What the law emphasises is quorum. We are 16 lawmakers on our side and we are not joking.”
Asked if they had a mace which is the symbol of authority in their sitting, the lawmaker said: “If Hon. Orji says he is not happy with his impeachment what he should do is to approach the courts, and not to say he doesn’t accept it.”
Prodded further to disclosed the venue of their meeting, saying that they were advised by security agencies to keep it secret.
“We have been advised by various security heads in the state to ensure that we don’t take any action that might lead to the break down of law and order. We understand that some of the suspended lawmakers have hired thugs, and we don’t want our supporters and their own supporters to clash.”
He said there was no going back on the resolutions of the House.
“The House is an Honourable institution, and once it takes a decision, it’s only the courts that can reverse it. But unfortunately, the judiciary in Abia is on a total lockdown.”
Meanwhile in a swift response, the Speaker denied locking up the House for four months, explaining that it was a unanimous agreement of the lawmakers to have some rest after the elections.
The Speaker who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Jude Ndukwe, said the lawmakers that purportedly impeached him were looking for excuses to justify their illegality.
Orji said his purported removal amounted to exercise in futility and “cannot stand.”
“The action is neither recognised by law nor convention. You cannot sit in somebody’s parlour or dinning room and say that you are holding a plenary while plenary is holding in the Assembly complex.
“If they say what they are doing is legal let them come to the Assembly complex and not in a hiding.
“Realise that these people just ran election and some of them failed and traveled on vacation. Some are still abroad where they went on vacation.
“If they said they were pressuring the Speaker and he refused to convene the House, why didn’t they call a press conference to tell the world than embark on illegality. They just want to give a dog a bad name in order to kill it.”
Orji said that eight and not seven members attended the plenary he presided over on Tuesday where the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Uchendu, was impeached and the nine lawmakers in Apugo’s camp suspended.
He insisted that a quorum was formed, maintaining that every decision taken at the plenary was binding.
The Speaker also said that he presided over another plenary at the Assembly complex on Wednesday where the House confirmed the newly appointed Auditor General of Local Governments.
Asked who he suspected was sponsoring the feud in the House, he said he would not speculate.
“The sponsor is in the realm of speculation and I wouldn’t like to speculate.
“But the Speaker said today that there are people behaving as if they are the Governor or Assistant Governor.
“It’s possible that they are the people sponsoring the unrest in the House but such sponsors have failed woefully.”
The Speaker said he was poised to carry out his legislative duties without unnecessary distractions.
