Posted by By John Ameh, Babatunde Oke and Kemi Obasola on
Crisis loomed again in Anambra State, on Monday, as 18 members of the state House of Assembly served an impeachment notice on the Governor, Mr. Peter Obi.
Crisis loomed again in Anambra State, on Monday, as 18 members of the state House of Assembly served an impeachment notice on the Governor, Mr. Peter Obi.
They accused him, among other things, of corrupt practices.
But the governor challenged the legislators to produce evidence of the alleged corrupt practices, which warranted the impeachment resolution passed on him.
The notice came barely three days after President Olusegun Obasanjo visited the state, and the same assembly passed a resolution in his presence asking him to release his Senior Special Assistant on Domestic Matters, Dr. Andy Uba, to contest the 2007 governorship election in the state.
The lawmakers‘ action on Monday triggered protests in the capital, Awka, forcing the state police command to draft its men to major areas and around government installations.
The protesters, who got wind of what was in the offing, stormed the assembly complex chanting anti-impeachment slogans. They delayed the sitting of the House, originally scheduled for 9am, for about three hours.
At exactly 11.52am, the Speaker, Mr. Mike Balonwu, representing the Onitsha-North constituency, in company with 17 others drove into the assembly complex in three Peugeot Expert buses chartered from the fleet of the Transport Company of Anambra State.
In a motion titled "Allegations of gross misconduct against Mr. Peter Obi and Dame Virginia Etiaba, Governor and Deputy Governor of Anambra State respectively," which was read by the Majority Leader, Mr. Humphrey Nsofor (Ekwusigo constituency), the lawmakers alleged that Obi had breached his oath of office and the 1999 constitution on 11 grounds.
Drama started on the floor of the House when Nsofor read out only one of the allegations and the speaker asked for someone to second the motion.
The motion was quickly seconded by Mr. Ben Obidigbo(Oyi constituency).
Mr. Joe Dimeobi (Anaocha II) opposed the motion before the speaker put it to a voice vote. But the vote went in favour of the 18 pro-impeachment legislators.
There was a near exchange of fisticuffs as the member representing Nnewi-North constituency, Mr. Ben Chuks-Nwosu, grabbed the microphone and shouted, "This procedure is entirely faulty and never done in the history of modern-day democracy.
"The allegations were not read out to us, Mr. Speaker, we don‘t even know what you people are talking about.
"We were not served the copies of this motion as is the usual practice to know the contents."
Balonwu, ignoring the protest, hit his gavel and declared, "The ayes have it."
The first of the 11 articles on the notice read on the floor of the House was that Obi and Etiaba violated the constitution and their oath of office by "corruptly influencing and causing to be placed, huge sums of money belonging to the Anambra State Government in Fidelity Bank Plc, being a bank in which both of them have substantial interests, and of which the governor was the immediate past chairman; thereby putting themselves in a position where their personal interests conflict with their duties and responsibilities, contrary to the Code of Conduct for public officers (Fifth Schedule, Section I, 1999 Constitution)."
A female member of the House, Mrs. Anthonia Tabansi-Okoye (Onitsha-South II), broke down and wept immediately the motion was passed.
Wailing with her arms on head, she kept muttering, "Oh, 18 million, because of 18 million; why do we always do this kind of thing to Anambra State?
"What will be the future of the people of this state? Oh, our children, Anambra children, what will they do tomorrow? This is a shame, endless shame."
The House member declined thereafter to grant interviews as to whether she meant the lawmakers collected N18m bribe to execute an assignment.
Responding to enquiries, she said, "Leave me alone oh, what is the use? They have killed this state; I can‘t talk, press people, please leave me alone!"
She continued to wail outside the assembly chambers.
Articles two to 11 of the motion were not read on the floor of the House. The allegation in article two was however that Obi awarded a contract for the rehabilitation of the Governor‘s Office Complex in Awka, "in the sum exceeding N100m to one of his campaign managers and associates, Mr. I.K. Nwandu."
It added that Obi used Nwandu‘s company as a "mere stratagem and instrumentality, thereby putting himself in a position where his personal interests conflict with his duties and responsibilities, contrary to the Code of Conduct for public officers (Fifth Schedule, Part 1, 1999 Constitution)."
Article four alleged that Obi awarded a contract for the construction of a state secretariat in Awka without "competitive bidding" at a cost of over half a billion naira to a firm owned by his "partner and business associate."
He was also accused of dissolving some statutory boards and commissions, "particularly the Anambra State Universal Basic Education Board, contrary to the ASUBEB Law 2005."
In other articles, the governor was accused of awarding several other contracts without due appropriation by the House, including the "purchase of 40 buses, purchase of 20 refuse disposal vans, construction of new office building for Ministry of Lands, and the award of contracts for "several township roads."
Hundreds of placard-carrying protesters deplored the action of the House and warned that unless it reversed the decision, the state would witness another round of crisis.
A spokesman for the protesters on the platform of "The Concerned Citizens of Anambra State," who marched to the assembly premises, Chief Okechukwu Bill-Iwenofu, said that the lawmakers were wrong to have moved against Obi.
He explained, "We are here to support Peter Obi, we are in solidarity with him and his government. He has not done anything to deserve this treatment."
A leader of another group of protesters, Mr. Christian Nwozor, warned that if Obi was impeached, Nigerians would hardly take the people of Anambra seriously again.
He added, "Enough of this madness in Anambra State. Ngige left this state because of crisis, and then Peter Obi came in. What has he done to deserve impeachment?
"If they try this madness, the state will be on fire."
Some of the placards held by protesters read, "The House members should consult with their constituencies before taking this kind of action," "No to impeachment of Peter Obi," "Anybody who wants to be governor should wait till elections," and "Anambra say no to impeachment."
Speaking at the Government House shortly after he made a state broadcast on Monday, Obi said, "Impeachment has a process. Until I see the proof, I consider what is being said as speculations."
The governor stressed, "There will never be a war between me and members of the House. I have not seen any empirical evidence, so, I won‘t comment further."
He, however, thanked Obasanjo for his visit to the state and hoped that it would be a sign of better things to come to Anambra State.
Addressing supporters later at the Government House, Obi challenged members of the House of Assembly to produce evidence of the alleged corrupt practices. He added that he would react appropriately if he got a copy of the charges.
The governor told the crowd, "We have been in the news for the wrong reasons and we will not allow Anambra state to go backward. We shall continue to improve Anambra state and better it.
"I am yet to receive the notice and if I receive it I will tell Anambra people what is in the notice.
"Everywhere impeachment took place they would always accuse the governor of embezzlement. But I tell you, if I have taken one kobo of Anambra State, I will resign and go home.
"I know that no kobo is missing. I assure you that there is no impeachable offence committed by me."
Twenty-nine out of the 30 members of the House are members of the Peoples Democratic Party, with only one being a member of the governor‘s party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance.
Two members of the House who had been on suspension did not attend Monday‘s session.
The Speaker, Balonwu, and the 17 others drove hurriedly out of the complex in the same vehicles they came; shoving reporters who attempted to seek further clarifications aside.
The PDP dissociated itself from the action of the Anambra assembly and asked its members to reverse the impeachment bid or face dire consequences.
A statement by the National Secretary of the party, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, said though Obi was elected on the APGA platform, he deserved the cooperation of everybody irrespective of political affiliation.
The statement said the impeachment notice was served on the governor without the knowledge of the PDP National Secretariat, and noted that it came barely two days after Obasanjo concluded a successful visit to the state.
It said, "The President was very delighted to flag off several critical projects that will transform the lives of the people in addition to commissioning some projects at the instance of the governor.
"The President, as leader of the PDP, understandably feels very saddened and personally embarrassed by the actions of PDP House of Assembly members in Anambra whose exercise of a constitutional right to impeach was done in bad faith without the knowledge of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed forces."
The statement added that the impeachment move fell far below the standard of discipline which the new PDP had come to be identified with, adding that a high powered delegation led by the National Chairman, Dr. Ahmadu Ali, had left for Anambra to meet with PDP members in the House of Assembly on Tuesday (today).
Speaking in Awka, on Monday, the National Chairman of the APGA, Chief Victor Umeh, called members of the House "enemies of democracy" who allegedly did not win elections in the first place.
He said Obi was legitimately elected by the people of the state, adding that the move to impeach him would fail.
The spokesman for Fidelity Bank, Mr. Emma Esinnah, confirmed that Anambra state has an account with the bank. But he said the state had been doing business with the bank before Obi became governor.
"Anambra State keeps accounts with at least six banks, of which Fidelity is one and the Fidelity relationship with Anambra was before Obi became the governor," he said.
Our correspondents learnt that Intercontinental Bank handles the state‘s statutory allocation account, while Oceanic Bank handles collections accounts. Zenith Bank collects its Universal Basic Education accounts while SpringBank collects states governments joint accounts.
It was also learnt that Springbank is in charge of handling placement for the state.
Fidelity bank handles only projects account.
About 30 policemen sent to the House to check the surging groups of protesters escaped death on Monday when the brakes of their vehicle failed, plunging them into a ditch.
Six of the policemen sustained injuries and were rushed to a hospital in Awka for medical care.
The rumour of Obi‘s impending removal had been building up in the last three weeks, following allegations by the lawmakers that he submitted a petition to the EFCC, urging the commission to probe them.
The key issue in the petition was alleged to be how the members spent the various sums of money they collected for constituency projects.
Obi, had denied writing such a petition, and challenged the EFCC and the legislators to show him proof of the document.