Imo State House of Assembly denies harbouring any plans to impeach Governor Okorocha

CLAIMS that the Imo State House of Assembly was planning to impeach Governor Rochas Okorocha have been denied by the speaker Hon Iheanacho Ihim saying that stories about such a plot are misleading and untrue.

Governor Okorocha is involved in a bitter spat with several members of his All Progressives Congress (APC) in Imo State over his plans to anoint his son-in-law Uche Nwosu as his successor. In a development that has divided the party in the state, some members of the party are backing Senator Hope Uzodinma as the APC candidate and they got their wish as the national secretariat forwarded his name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec).

Earlier this week, Governor Okorocha clamped down on his deputy Eze Madumere for refusing to back Mr Nwosu as his anointed successor by withdrawing his security personnel and staff. This had prompted suggestions that the Imo State House of Assembly had planned to impeach the governor at the insistence of the APC national leadership.

However, Hon Ihim said that there was no impeachment process against Governor Okorocha, adding that he had carried out his duties within the full provisions of the law. He described as misleading, insinuations in some quarters that some members of the House had contemplated instituting impeachment process against the governor.

Hon Ihim said: “His Excellency, Owelle Rochas Anayo Okorocha, has so far conducted himself and steered the administrative machinery of Imo within the most perceived and glaring ambits of the law. No member of the Imo House of Assembly has contemplated, even remotely, the misleading allegation of his impeachment charge.

According to Hon Ihim, the impeachment procedure against any state governor is a constitutional matter, adding that it is neither done surreptitiously nor stealthily. He condemned the originators of the news and enjoined the state government and the general public to disregard the allegations.

“It is an act done in the open and no member of the state assembly has any knowledge of the fictitious and imaginary said impeachment procedure. It beats my imagination how an obscure and imaginary television station operating outside the shores of Imo state could be the harbinger of a story of such magnitude when there is a plethora of refined, reliable and reputable mass media in Imo.

“Such fake news and other morally degenerate stories are the stock in trade of that lowly rated and generally unknown, non-conventional television station. I enjoin the relevant publics and government of Imo to discountenance the falsehood of Governor Okorocha’s alleged impeachment for what it is – a lie from the pit of hell,” Hon Ihim added.