It’s Not Possible, Say Speaker, Senator Abe
A socio-political group based in the South-South, the Niger Delta Watchdog has called for the impeachment of the State Governor, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi for spearheading the brawl that occurred at the Rivers State House of Assembly.
The Niger Delta Watchdog particularly condemned the attack on the lawmaker representing Obio/Akpor Constituency II, Mr. Michael Chinda, by the Majority Leader of the House, Mr. Chidi Lloyd, and called for his arrest by the Inspector General of Police.
The group stated this in a statement signed by its Secretary, Mr. Sam Ebiye, blamed the governor for the brawl that took place in the chambers of the House of Assembly, noting that despite the huge allocation accruing to the state, its people continues to live in poverty.
It also criticized the Governor’s acquisition of a jet when the level of unemployment continues to rise.
“Without fear or favour, we therefore call on the new, recognized and democratic Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly to go ahead and impeach Governor Rotimi Amaechi without delay.
“Let the courts decide which can constitute a majority; an ‘independent and active five’ or a ‘redundant non-independent 27. We also urge the Inspector General of police to order the arrest of Chidi Lloyd who is one of the 27 ‘periwinkle members’ of Rivers State House of Assembly, for his inhuman act on one of the legitimate five,” the statement read.
But reacting to the call, the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Otelemaba Amachree, said the call was needless since Amaechi has not committed any impeachable offence, noting that the group did not do a proper evaluation of the governor’s performance.
The Speaker, who reacted through his Media Assistant, Mr. Jim Okpiki, said that Amaechi was elected Governor to defend the lives and property of Rivers people and has lived up to expectations.
He said: “It is not logical to begin to call for the impeachment of a governor who has performed creditably. Compared to most governors in the past, Amaechi has done well and has not committed any impeachable offence.
“The state belongs to all of us. You cannot go to court to impeach a governor. You cannot impeach a governor outside the State House of Assembly. The best for all of us is follow the line of peace.”
In a related development, the senator representing Rivers South-East district in the National Assembly, Senator Magnus Ngei Abe has said that it will not be possible for the removal of Amaechi as Governor.
He said that Amaechi’s administration was ordained by God, and urged the people of the state to be focused and not distracted by political situation in the state, just as he appealed to them to continue to support the governor, who he said had done a lot for them.
Speaking at Bori, the headquarters of Khana Local Government Area while presenting scholarship to 77 university undergraduates, urged youths in the state to avoid being used by politicians to accomplish their selfish ends.
“We are living at a time when politicians of all shades are going around collecting young people, collecting peoples’ children, daughters and sons to help them pursue their personal ambitions or their public aspirations. I want to say clearly that gathering people to support you is all politics is all about and we will gather people to support us. If you see anybody who is calling you, buying you guns, machetes, giving you something to take so that he can be something, those are evil people.
“Anybody who loves you and is calling you at this time should call you in a manner that what he is calling you for will be good for you today and god for you tomorrow. Nobody should call you and say you are a youth, come and fight, come and kill somebody. Come and attack House of Assembly come and attack this one.”
“It is not logical to begin to call for the impeachment of a governor who has performed creditably. Compared to most governors in the past, Amaechi has done well and has not committed any impeachable offence.
“The state belongs to all of us. You cannot go to court to impeach a governor. You cannot impeach a governor outside the State House of Assembly. The best for all of us is follow the line of peace,” he added.
