Posted by Haruna Acheneje, Uyo, Festus Owete and Chiawo Nwankwo, Abuja on
Members of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly on Friday said they would not rescind the impeachment of the state Deputy Governor, Obong Chris Ekpenyong, in spite of a directive from the national headquarters of the Peoples Democratic Party ordering them to review the matter.
Members of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly on Friday said they would not rescind the impeachment of the state Deputy Governor, Obong Chris Ekpenyong, in spite of a directive from the national headquarters of the Peoples Democratic Party ordering them to review the matter.
This development came as tension mounted in the state capital, Uyo, on Friday, with some youths holding secret meetings to ostensibly foment trouble in the state.
According to a statement signed by the Chief Whip of the state assembly, Mr. Ukata Akpan, a copy of which was made available to our correspondent in Uyo, the lawmakers insisted that the PDP could not force them to take any action.
PDP's National Secretary, Dr. Ojo Maduekwe, had in an announcement monitored on the Nigeria Television Authority in Uyo on Thursday directed the assembly and other parties in the impeachment process to suspend their action until investigations had been concluded by the party.
Maduekwe also noted that the directive was the result of a meeting he along with the chairman and secretary of the party's Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih and Prof. Jerry Gana respectively; the party's Deputy National Chairman (South), Chief Olabode George; as well as a BOT member, Alhaji Waziri Mohammed, held with the state Governor, Obong Victor Attah, and the chairman of the state PDP, Chief Tony Emenyi, in Uyo on Thursday.
'There is no means, legal or constitutional, by which an action such as the impeachment of the former Deputy Governor can be suspended after it has been concluded."
The statement said that the impeachment was the exclusive prerogative of the House and not the party, stressing, 'We wish to irrevocably restate our commitment to good governance, due process and transparency but would not allow loyalty to our respective parties to cause us to abandon our sacred duty to our people at whatever cost.'
The 25-member Assembly had on Thursday voted by 23 votes to impeach Ekpeyong for gross misconduct.
However, Maduekwe said at a news conference in Abuja on Friday that the party had constituted a special panel to look into the matter.
Maduekwe, who read from a statement jointly signed by hmself and Gana, stated that the panel would begin sitting next Monday and was expected to conclude its 'proceedings within one week so that appropriate resolutions could be found to all matters arising from this impeachment process."
Anenih, who was also at the briefing, warned that the party would discipline any member who failed to appear before the panel.
Anenih maintained that the party leadership owed a duty to put the party on the right tract. He said: 'The governor, deputy, speaker and members of the Assembly were elected on the party's paltform and so we cannot sit down and watch things go wrong. We want to see every member of the PDP protected."
Saturday Punch, June 25, 2005