The plot to impeach Rt. Hon. Chinedum Orji was poorly hatched and equally poorly executed. Since one cannot give what he does not have, the hatching and execution of the plot was as poor as the plotters.
The attempted impeachment was hatched by Igodo, the accidental overnight billionaire aide of Gov. Ikpeazu. Since the dog cannot wag the tail, suffice it therefore to say that the plot had the full executive imprimatur of Gov. Ikpeazu. As always, Gov. Ikpeazu denied being in the know of the plot now that the center could not hold.
To railroad the legislators into the plot, Igodo paid every legislative coupists the sum of US$4,000. Contrary to what is being bandied about, the plotters did not muster the constitutionally required 16 members that would have constituted two third absolute majority.
Like the criminal usurpers that they are, they forged the signatures of the following members:
1. Hon. Stanley Nwabisi who incidentally is in far away Canada as at the time he purportedly signed the impeachment.
2. Hon. Emeka Okorafor.
3. Hon. Paul Taribo.
WHY THEY WANT IKUKU IMPEACHED
1. Though Rt. Hon. Chinedum Orji also lost his own election, the PDP power barons of Obingwa extraction still attribute a part of their party’s gubernatorial loss to Ikuku for which they want to take their pound of flesh.
2. Gov. Ikpeazu and his handlers want the house to be reconvened in order to legalise some of their many atrocities by procuring legislative approval as required by law. Authoritatively, I can tell you that some crazy borrowings by this government were done without any recourse to the house; some extra budgetary expenses are still lacking legislative approval. These are all acts of brazen assault on fiscal responsibility, and amount to grave financial crimes. So, to run away from what they envisage as the wrath of Dr. Alex Otti they need to obtain legislative seal by whatever means in order to cover their rather visible criminal tracks.
3. The eclipsing government is laying some landmines against Dr. Otti’s incoming government. As such, Dr. Ikpeazu wants to enlist the legislative approval of the house for such landmines to withstand any likely judicial trial. Example of such landmines include getting the house to pass a supplementary budget that would accomodation the budget for the proposed local government election, approval for the constitution of the board of ASOPADEC, etc.
4. Getting the house to amend house rules to the effect of allowing new members to contest for speaker of the house in the 8th assembly. This is to pave the way for Igodo’s wild goose chase of becoming the speaker of the next assembly. Igodo had paid ₦30 million to some house members through a former speaker from Isiala Ngwa South State Constituency for the same purpose of amending the same house rule but all to no avail.Let me start this piece by saying that the Rt. Hon. Chinedum Orji is embattled but he remains the speaker of the 7th assembly. He is also very likely to remain the speaker till the devolution of the house sometime in June this year.
However, his survival is not hinged on Gov. Ikpeazu’s benevolence or his own political deftness.
Firstly, Rt. Hon. Chinedum Orji is lucky. Extremely lucky. He is lucky because his traducer from the executive arm is more of a gadfly who perches on plots but lacks the balls to drive them through. He boldly jumps on jumbo projects and ideas but cowardly backs out abandoning his lieutenants on the way.
Secondly, the embattled speaker is blessed to have some henchmen whose support and loyalty at this moment of dire need transcend the love for filthy lucre and obsession for position. These men remain as solid as the Rock of Gibraltar in their support for Rt. Hon. Chinedum Orji not necessarily out love for and loyalty to his person but they have had their bellies so full of executive rascality that they would always go against the governor’s interest to spite him.
These men include Hon. Ginger Onwusibe, Hon. Jerry Obisike, Hon. Akpulonu Solomon and few others whose names I will enlist later.
Gov. Ikpeazu has offered to mediate in the roforofo fight in the house of jackals. This is a typical case of one being a judge in his own case.
That Rt. Hon. Chinedum Orji accepted such mediation have justified my doubts as to whether most of our leaders in the various arms of government in Abia State, with the exemption of the judiciary, read. I say this with every sense of humility but responsibility. I see most of them including the rattled speaker as being either oblivious of history or repeating the mistakes of history.
No matter what, a chameleon never changes its dancing steps, and the teeth with which a dog plays is equally it’s most lethal weapon.
This self appointed mediator in this legislative impasse is not only violating the principles of separation of power but he appears to be ignorant of the existence of such a principle in executive presidencialism.
This mediator looks like the legendary old man from Akukalia’s village in Arrow of God who should have warned his men against fighting a war of blame but engaged in doublespeak of blowing hot and cold at the same time which led to death of Akukalia, the unfortunate war with Okperi and the eventual defeat of Umuaro and dymistification of Ulu.
The man who has offered to mediate in this storm in a tea cup is that proverbial janus faced arbitrator who is said to major in throwing stones from the forests only to rush out to the center of the road to ask “who threw those stones?”
Finally, Ikuku should know the imperatives of accurate timing in a strategic warfare such as politics. I may not know but his present travails and its timing remind me of what happened to Adolf Hitler at Sterlingrade with emphasis to lack of accurate timing and his eventual loss of the 2nd World War.
Losing a battle is not losing a war.
The so called impeachment that took place in the dinning room of Emeka Omerua Government Guest House was a mockery and rape of legislative business. It was archaic, barbaric, anachronistic to modernity and criminally invidious.
What happened in the guise and name of an impeachment is nothing but a legislative coup that should be seen and treated as such. What happened was treasonable and the perpetrators should and must be tried for treason.
All that happened was at the behest of Gov. Ikpeazu. Igodo could not and did not act on his own. Though Rt. Hon. Chinedum Orji would have been the direct victim but the real target is the incoming government with the already impoverished Abians as the real casualties.
The aim of the plot was simply to legalise the already stolen funds and to give legislative approval to the landmines that are being laid to cripple the incoming administration in such a way that thwarting them through judicial redress would be rather cumbersome.
The speaker has survived the impeachment but with some psychological bruises. He is now psychologically besieged to appease the governor by succumbing to some overtures and subtle manipulations.
This week, Gov. Ikpeazu will present a supplementary budget to the house which will carry the cost of the forthcoming charade called local government election and some other extra budgetary expenditures that have already been incurred.
Again, backdated letters seeking approval for some dirty and crazy borrowings from banks will be equally presented to the house.
Nominations into the board of ASOPADEC will also be sent to the house for ratification. All these and more Gov. Ikpeazu wants to do when his government has less than twenty two days to end.
The speaker should understand or be made to understand that all these are aimed at crippling and encumbering the next administration. Obliging Gov. Ikpeazu’s quest in this direction means taking sides against Ndi Abia, and Ndi Abia will never forget.
