The Ebonyi State House of
Assembly has been enmeshed in a fierce battle of supremacy, leading to
the controversial impeachment of the Speaker, Right HonourableChukwuma
Nwazunku, and the emergence of a new Speaker. CLEMENT OKO NNACHI
chronicles the drama that polarised the Assembly and looks at the 2015
connection in the crisis.
Turning and turning in a widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear its falconer;
Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world
ALTHOUGH William Butler Yeat, author of the famous lines above taken
from his verse titled The Second Coming had a different thematic
construct in mind at the time of composing the literary piece, the
universality of the theme was not lost on Ebonyi State in the
South-East, Nigeria, where the parliamentary chamber has been replicated
in the house of one of the lawmakers and where the parliamentarians
speak in disharmony.
Monday 21, July, 2014, will remain
evergreen in the political history of the state as it relates to the
24-member Assembly in particular and the citizens of the state in
general.
As early as 6 a.m. tension had gripped the entire
state on account of the purported impeachment of the Speaker, Honourable
Chukwuma Nwazunku at the dawn on that day by some aggrieved members of
the assembly.
Accordingly, controversy and intrigues trailed
the claimed impeachment as most citizens queried the legality of the
action on the ground that the lawmakers had only a few days back
commenced their recess. Tongues also wagged about the decision, which
was said to have had no legal effect because the mace- the symbol of
legislative authority- was in custody of Nwazunku. A respondent queried:
how did the 18 lawmakers sneak into the chambers to effect the
impeachment?
At the unusual sitting, Honourable Frank Onwe,
representing Ohaukwu Constituency, had moved a motion for the
impeachment on grounds of alleged corruption, undemocratic practices and
betrayal among members.The motion was seconded by Honourable Enyi C
Enyi.
The motion for the election of a new Speaker in
Honourable Helen Nwaobasi was moved by Honourbale Eni Chima representing
Afikpo South-West, Nwaobasi represents Abakaliki South Constituency.
The backer of the motion was and Honourbale Jerry Obasi.
Shortly after the emergency sitting, the Speaker, who was sad to have
been replaced, Honourable Nwazunku, appeared at the Assembly complex
with members loyal to him and dismissed his impeachment as a charade,
insisting that he was in charge.
Controversial as it may appear
on the same day, the two speaker lawmakers Honourable Nwazunku and
Honourable (Mrs) Nwaobasi, attended a public function together at the
Government House the same day, before security agents attached to the
executive chambers dispersed the duo to avert crisis.
There was
order and tranquility in the Assembly complex, with the presence of
heavily armed policemen sealing off the premises of the legislative
complex.
Reacting to his impeachment, Nwazunku described the
exercise as illegal and unconstitutional, since the house was on recess.
He noted that he still remained the authentic speaker of “Ebonyi state
House of Assembly”.
He said: “Their journey there is illegal.
For me, I am not bordered. I still have the majority of the House. There
is no impeachment. I have the mace and I have ordered the security men
to ward off those “criminals,” who called themselves honourable
members,” he said.
One week after the incident, observers have
continued to watch, as the two camps of lawmakers flex muscles and lay
claim to the speakership of the House with the lawmakers expressing
loyalty to the different camps.
Nwaobasi had laid claim that 18
lawmakers have queued behind her. However, six of her loyalists were
said to have re-united with the faction of the acclaimed impeached
Speaker, as of the time of this report.
A new twist crept into
the drama and clash of the titans among the lawmakers, suggesting that
there might a tragic turn of event if the division is not resolved.
Some members have raised the alarm that their lives were in danger,
alleging that they had been receiving threat messages at intervals.
One of the lawmakers who claimed to have received some of those
messages, Honourable Jerry Obasi, said: “That am still alive now is just
by the grace of God. I would have been dead by now; there was a plan to
either disfigure me or put me in a permanent wheel chair or even send
me to an early grave.”
Alleged forgery, abduction
Those who distanced themselves from the impeachment were Honourables
Oliver Nwachukwu and Vincent Nwobo who had alleged that their signatures
were forged.
The Assembly’s Majority Leader, Honourable Sam
Nwali was abducted at about 9:30am on Wednesday, along Nna Street,
Abakaliki, in the capital city, while on his way to meet with his
colleagues for a meeting. He was said to have been stopped by four
gunmen, who took him to an unknown location.
The Police Public
Relations Officer, ASP Chris Anyanwu, informed newsmen that some members
of the House had reported the kidnap saga to the state Commissioner of
Police, Alhaji Maigari Dikko.
The 2015 connnection
The
claims and counter-claims by loyalists of the two Speakers are giving
residents of the state cause for concern. Honourable Chima, who is a
core loyalist of the factional Speaker, Nwaobasi, alleged that a top
government functionary in the state, whom he claimed is aspiring to be
governor, doled out N200 million to some persons to buy some members
over to the side of Honourable Nwazunku. He said this would however not
change the situation as they would not reverse the impeachment of
Nwazunku.
There appears to be no hope of resolution of the
quagmire as it is now.Feelers from some quarters indicated that what
instigated the crisis was the pronouncement by Governor Martin
Elechithat power would shift to the Southern Senatorial zone of the
state come 2015 .
It was gathered that power brokers from the
Southern zone some and their counterparts from the Northern Senatorial
zone were allegedly the invisible hands behind the crisis in the
Assembly.
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