Crisis Rocks Imo Assembly as Lawmakers Remove Speaker, Deputy

Amby Uneze in Owerri

Legislative activity in Imo State House of Assembly was yesterday brought to its knees Assembly, as within one week, various impeachments have greeted the Assembly.

Lawmakers of the Assembly yesterday in a commando-style carried out an impeachment of the Speaker, Mr. Paul Emeziem.

He was promptly replaced with Mr. Kennedy Ibe, a ranking member, who represents Obowo state constituency.

The exercise was carried out amid tight security with 19 of the 27 lawmakers said to have signed the impeachment papers.

THISDAY reliably gathered that Hon Amara Iwuanyanwu, who was impeached as the deputy speaker last week, stormed the chambers with six lawmakers and some security personnel to execute the impeachment of the Speaker.

Iwuanyanwu was removed on November 2, 2021, through a resolution signed by 18 out of the 27 lawmakers of the Assembly, which was presented before the plenary on allegation of highhandedness, arrogance and misconduct. Representative of Orsu state constituency, Mr. Ekene Nnodim, submitted the resolution.

Receiving the resolution, the now impeached Speaker, Paul Emezim, said: “Since this resolution was signed by 18 members out of the 27, the resolution stands.”

In July this year, Emezim pronounced an indefinite suspension of six lawmakers, accusing them of engaging in ‘un-parliamentary conduct’.

The affected lawmakers were Kennedy Ibe (Obowo), Uche Ogbuagu (Ikeduru), Anyadike Nwosu (Ezinihitte Mbaise), Onyemaechi Njoku (Ihitte Uboma), Philip Ejiogu (Owerri North), and Dominic Ezerioha (Oru West).

The suspension had resulted in pandemonium at the plenary, as gunshots rented the air before the Speaker was shielded out of the Assembly complex.

Incidentally, the Assembly announced the recall of the suspended members the day the deputy speaker was impeached.

Emezim said the legislators had repented, hence the decision to lift the suspension.

Speaking to THISDAY on the phone, Emeziem expressed surprise at his impeachment, adding that the impeached Deputy Speaker, Iwuanyanwu, was unfit to preside over his ‘purported’ impeachment.

While dismissing the impeachment as an ‘exercise in futility’, he said he would consult the governor before making further comment.