From Paul Ibe, Enugu
Tension in the politics of Enugu state has continued to heighten unabated, the recent is the impeachment move against speaker of the house of assembly, Eugene Odo. At the moment, 20 out of the 24 members of the house have signed the notice to be served on the embattled speaker any time from now.
HOMELAND NEWS reliably gathered that the impeachment move against the speaker who had been an the speaker of the house and a strong ally of the governor for about eight years may not be unconnected with the speaker’s insistence to contest the 2015 governorship election against the governor’s favoured candidate, Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.
It would be recalled that Governor Chime and some stakeholders of the party from Enugu North Senatorial zone (Nsukka area), where the Peoples Democratic Party zoned the governorship slot, had few months ago adopted Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi who is currently a member of the House of Representatives as their consensus candidate.
However, the action did not go down well with 3 Governorship Aspirants from the zone and some others from different areas, which include Speaker Odo, Senator Ayogu Eze, Chief Chinedu Onu, Evang. Sam Onyishi and Chief Anayo Onwuegbu, as they all defied the consensus arrangement and remained in the race.
Hon. Odo, had last week declared his interest formally during a press briefing, just as he purchased the expression of interest and nomination forms of the party few days later which he had since filled and returned to the PDP secretariat.
Gov. Chime, and the PDP stakeholders in the state, had viewed the Speaker’s action as disloyalty to the government and the party hence, the need to remove him.
Apparently to scuttle the impeachment process, Hon. Odo, had on Tuesday, tactically adjourned sitting of the House till December 2nd on the guise that the adjournment was to “enable members participate effectively in the party’s delegates election”.
A staff of the house who pleaded anonymity said: “The impeachment threat is real. There is serious mobilization going on among the members, especially among principal officers of the House”.
HOMELAND NEWS will recall that Hon. Odo had stood behind Gov. Chime particularly between 2012 and now when the governor’s health took a turn for the worse. The House of Assembly led by Eugene Odo resisted calls and campaign for the governor to be declare incapacitated while he was hospitalized abroad for several months.
However, the development may be seen as nemesis catching up with the Speaker. He presided over the controvercial impeachment of the former deputy governor, Sunday Onyebuchi in August.
