Ebonyi Assembly Gutted by Fire as Two Members’ Seats are Declared Vacant

25 Feb 2015 Governor Martin Elechi Lawmakers accuse Elechi, others of complicity State may slip into constitutional crisis, Onu warns Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja and Benjamin Nworie in Abkaliki
 The Ebonyi State House of Assembly was in the early hours of Tuesday gutted by fire with signs of inflammable substances spilling on the floor. This development, THISDAY gathered, increased the suspicion that the arson was carried out to forestall the planned summon of some individuals accused for financial fraud in the state THISDAY gathered that the fire which started around 1.47am, destroyed sensitive documents and properties worth millions of naira but would have caused more havoc save for the swift intervention of the operatives of the state Federal Fire Service. The lawmakers in an emergency plenary, shortly after supervising the incident, accused the state Governor, Chief Martin Elechi, and his commissioners for allegedly masterminding the incident with the help of suspected thugs deployed from nearby states to cause mayhem in the state. The lawmakers accused Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Celestine Nwali; Supervising Commissioner for Information, Ifeanyi Ikeh; Eni Uduma Chima, Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General, Ben Igwenyi and others for masterminding the incident. During the plenary, the assembly further declared the seats of Hon. Oliver Nwachuwku representing Abakaliki North state constituency and embattled Deputy Speaker, representing Afikpo South East, Hon. Blaise Orji vacant, making it a total of six seats that had been declared vacant by the assembly. Moving his motion, Obasi Odefa called on all security agencies to arrest and prosecute the culprits, and also ensure that the lives of the legislators are protected. The acting Leader, Ogbonna Nwifuru, alleged that: “They want to kill all members. Our lives are under threat. They are importing thugs and the governor does not want to call them to order. He cannot deny that he does not know what happened.” The lawmakers alleged that their lives were no longer safe in the state and therefore called on the Inspector General of Police (IG), Suleman Abba, and the state Commissioner of Police, Maigari Dikko, and other security outfits to provide security for members and their families. The Minority Leader, Enyi. C. Enyi, threatened that if adequate security is not provided for members, they would resort to self-help, stressing that no amount of intimidation would deter them from carrying out their constitutional duties even if it entails “sitting in the bush.” The Speaker of the assembly, Chukwuma Nwazuknu, ordered that the alleged perpetrators already fingered should be arrested and prosecuted. THISDAY learnt that Elechi has ordered full investigation into the cause of the fire and further advised that no exhibit seen within the vicinity should be tempered with till the investigation is completed. The rift between Elechi, and the state legislators had snow-balled into an impeachment saga with Speaker, Nwazunku, constituting special committee to investigate an alleged gross financial misconduct against the governor. The lawmakers had adopted five petitions against the governor and other key actors in the state during plenary for the alleged financial misappropriation and embezzlement. However, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former National Chairman of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party, (ANPP), Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, has cautioned against plunging the state into constitutional crisis following the face-off between the state governor, and state assembly. Onu who spoke with THISDAY in an interview in Abuja yesterday said the state House of Assembly as presently constituted is incapable of carrying out legitimate impeaching proceeding against the governor. “Actually the problem in the state has become a constitutional crisis in the sense that the assembly by taken certain actions has removed from itself the legitimacy it has because article 91 of the constitution says that any assembly must have a minimum of 24 members and a maximum of 40. On whether the move to oust the governor is legitimate, Onu who is a former governor of the old Abia State from which Ebonyi was created, said any impeachment exercise that fails to follow due process of law and is not guided along the lines of the constitution would amount to illegitimacy. “So if you expel four of your members and ask Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct elections, then your number has been reduced to 20 and definitely it violates the constitution by article 91. So there is already a constitutional crisis and they have to make sure that everybody must ensure that the constitution of the nation is upheld. “Definitely, if the constitution says that you need 24 members to make up a House of Assembly, if the number is less, then they have violated the constitution and the first thing is to make sure that we keep to our constitution,” he said. http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/ebonyi-assembly-gutted-by-fire-as-two-members-seats-are-declared-vacant/202672/