EBONYI IMPEACHMENT SAGA: Between Abuja And Abakaliki

By George  Okonkwo

Finally, President Goodluck Jonathan has heeded the call of many well-meaning Nigerians who advised him to intervene in the political crisis in Ebonyi State. Over the last week, the president and some other party leaders have met to seek a solution to a lingering crisis that could impact on the ruling PeoplesDemocratic Party’s fortunes in the coming elections. The president should complete

his
work by warning those who are hell-bent on sending Governor Martin Elechi parking before his tenure ends in just a matter of weeks to back-off and be reasonable. If they don’t, then they are the real enemies of the president.

We know some Abuja handprints are on the matter, but then what are they accusing the governor of that took 8 years to prove? It is understood that for lack of substantial allegations upon which to impeach Governor Elechi, those political man Fridays have devised “acts of misconduct”, “misappropriation of funds” and “undermining of the House of Assembly’s authority”. What misconduct? What misappropriation of funds? And how does the governor undermine an arm of government with which, hitherto, he had a smooth working relation with? 

The good news is that, even in their rash irrationality, the governor’s adversaries – both in Abuja and Abakaliki – have not been able to accuse him of nonperformance.       

In the wake of the outbreak of cholera in some parts of the state, the governor embarked on the construction of two giant water treatment plants, one at Oferekpe in Ikwo LGA and Ukawu in Onicha LGA to the tune of N7.6 billion and N3.9 billion respectively. They are expected to serve the need of the people of the state to the capacity of 200 million litres of water per day. That is rapid response from an old man.

The governor has also achieved a lot in education and health. Rural hospitals now deliver prompt and adequate healthcare to the people of Ebonyi; an unprecedented achievement to someone who knew the situation before Elechi became governor. He constructed an international market with over 5000 stores to trigger the transformation of Ebonyi from a civil service state into becoming an epicenter for commercial activities.

Works on the construction of a digitalized Radio and Television corporation, the Ebonyi Broadcasting Corporation (EBBC) are ongoing. In fact, even with the meager resources the state gets, the governor still embarked on an ambitious power plants project. The Ebonyi State University continues to attract new projects from the governor because of its strategic importance to the governor’s vision. 

Except if the Ebonyi State House of Assembly wants to impeach the governor on the account of his performance, options are limited while consequences are grave in ignoring the yearnings of the people of the state. This much has been established by those who have moved in their droves from the PDP to the Labour Party. Like their governor, the people of Ebonyi are politically underrated and taken for granted by the PDP they’ve stayed loyal to since 1999. Already, the Ebonyi Assembly does not have such numerical strength to impeach the governor without resorting to illegality. That speaks volume.

Perhaps, we should ask the Ebonyi legislative actors how the House, currently lacking in numerical legitimacy, intends to institute an impeachment process on the governor without violating the provisions of Section 104 of the 1999 Constitution on the convocation of the House. Ebonyi Assembly requires not less than 24 and not more than 40 members to function as a proper law-making body. Except, of course, if these persons and their Abuja backers bypass the law and resort to the impunity that has come to define their political journeys, they make bare-faced lawlessness look like war scenes from the medieval Game of Thrones. This, they should be warned, is the 21century and we are in a democracy!

Ebonyi has always been a peaceful state. The state that doesn’t rebel against constituted authority should not be rebelled against by those in positions of authority, especially in Abuja. Ebonyi can rarely afford political and social costs if drawn into a crisis that never should be. Elections are coming; one way to keep them peaceful, free and fair is by preventing self-serving politicians from climbing the kind of dangerous cliff they are contemplating.