Abia Assembly Dismisses Impeachment of Speaker, Says Move Unconstitutional

The Abia State House of Assembly has dismissed the purported impeachment of her speaker, Chinedum Orji, by some members of the House led by its former Deputy Speaker, Ifeanyi Uchendu.

This was made public during a preliminary session of the House presided by Orji, on Tuesday.

A video which has now gone viral on social media emerged on Tuesday morning where some members of the House sat in an undisclosed location, reportedly impeached the Speaker and elected Chukwudi Apugo as the new Speaker.

But a member of the House, Jerry Uzosike, during the preliminary, described the move as unconstitutional, disgraceful and against the rules of the legislature.

He moved a motion that all the members involved in the alleged impeachment move should be suspended with immediate effect and a new Deputy Speaker elected.

The motion was seconded by the member representing Isiala Ngwa North state constituency, Ginger Onwusibe.

The Speaker in reaction put the motion to vote and all the nine members present voted in favour of it.

He said, “I have been a humble speaker. That I’m quiet does not mean that I don’t know what to say.

Orji subsequently announced the suspension of the nine members involved in the purported impeachment move for one month without benefits.

“I have taken a lot of insults and humiliation not from the governor of the state, but from those who think that they are assistant governors, but I have been quiet because my family member had been a governor and I respect the office of the governor”, he said.

The Speaker also set up a committee to investigate the member involved in the purported impeachment move.

The House members also elected the member representing the Ohafia North state constituency, Egwuonwu Obasi, as the new Deputy Speaker.