PORT HARCOURT/A Feel Of Political Wilderness

For the entire eight years Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi was Speaker of the state House of Assembly, no principal officer was removed through impeachment or forced resignation. But one year into the current dispensation, all the principal officers of the House, save the Speaker, Mr. Tonye Harry, have been relieved of their functions by their colleagues.

Those impeached include the Deputy Speaker, Charles Befil Nwile, representing Khana 11 Constituency; House Leader, Mr. Golden Ngozi Chioma, representing Etche Constituency 11; Deputy Leader, Mr. Hope Ikiriko, representing Ahaoda West Constituency, and Mr. Tamunosisi Gogo Jaja, Chief Whip, representing Opobo. Nkoro Constituency were said to have voluntarily resigned their positions.

Giving reasons for thir removal, Ikiriko, who presided over the impeachment session as Speaker protempore, and lost his position as Deputy Leader, said the affected officers were ineffective and had not been able to catch up with the tempo of the executive. There was, therefore, need to inject fresh blood.

But the affected legislators are not going quietly. On Wednesday 28 May, Governor Amaechi was said to have intervened and pledged to broker peace among the warring factions of the House. An insider told Across Nigeria that at a meeting brokered by Governor Amaechi on 28 May, some of the affected officers did not agree with the face-saving proposal outlined by their colleagues: they were allegedly advised to resign honourably.

A surprising twist in the tale is the U-turn made by the Speaker, Tonye Harry, who had earlier condemned the exercise as a charade, insisting that only the Speaker can preside over such impeachment proceedings and that 18 members do not constitute two-thirds of the 32 members of the House.

But last Monday, at a sitting presided over by Harry, he called for the election of new officers to replace those impeached. This, however, was challenged by Mr. Chioma, who argued that the House had not been properly convened since it earlier adjourned sine die and so the impeachment was null and void. Immediately he sat down, Ikiriko enjoined the House to proceed with the election of new officers as the impeachment was properly done and so binding and legal. Sensing the divide in the House, the Speaker put the two motions to vote, with those in favour of the election of new officers gaining the upper hand. But before the election process started, Charles Nwile, Gogo Jaja and two other impeached officers staged a walk-out of the chambers. Speaking with Rhythm 93.7, a local radio station in Port Harcourt, later in the day, Gogo Jaja accused Amaechi for his removal because he never supported Amaechi to be the Governor and has no regrets about his position. As the effected officers threaten to go to court to challenge their removal, an observer of Rivers politics said what is happening is nemesis as some of the affected officers worked hard against Amaechi becoming Governor. “Let them seek justice through the law court and taste the journey into the wilderness which Amaechi went through for nine months before he eventually overcame,” he said.

– Reported by Okafor Ofiebor.