ENUGU STATE: Threat of Impeachment Looms in Enugu state come Jan 2013

Big Fear In Enugu As Governor Sullivan Chime Stays Over 100 Days In Hospital

 
 
Palpable fear and anxiety returned to Enugu State this yuletide over the continuous absence of Governor Sullivan Chime from office. It was gathered that the Governor’s supporters are currently wrapped in fears over the threat that the State House of Assembly may impeach him in January next year if he fails to return to the country by or before December ending. The State House of Assembly has been at the receiving end of hardcore criticism by members of the public for failing to take necessary action over the Governor’s long absence from office which entered its 100 days yesterday.

A close insider who craved anonymity said: “We have been silent over this matter since the past three months and we cannot continue like this in January next year.” According to the source, even though the Governor wrote to the House officially, informing them of his decision to go on vacation for six weeks, he had spent 100 days so far without any official reason.“The situation has become more worrisome because some government functionaries who claimed to have visited the Governor wherever he is have neither informed the House of whether he is sick nor incapacitated in one way or the other in that country even when speculations are rife that the governor might have passed out following an undisclosed ailment.

“The people of our various constituencies had been asking us a lot of questions about the governor’s whereabouts but none of us in the legislature can give any good answer or explanation because we know nothing about him,” he added.Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Mr. Eugene Odoh was said to have repeatedly pleaded with his colleagues to exercise some patience over the concerns being raised by the public regarding Chime’s long absence from office, stressing that the Governor by staying away for three months had not acted against the constitution. It would be recalled that Chime was last seen in Enugu State on September 9 after attending the South East Governors’ Meeting at the Governor’s Lodge but his aides disclosed that he flew out of the country immediately after attending a meeting in Abuja the following week.

The Governor was recently rumoured to have passed on in an Indian hospital but his media aide debunked the rumour, saying that the Governor must return before Christmas, an assertion which hasn’t come through yet. The 2013 state budget presentation, which was left for him to handle in person, was later assigned to the Deputy Governor, Mr. Sunday Onyebuchi who is acting on his behalf. “When the Governor failed to return to present the budget himself as he had done since he took over from Chimaroke Nnamani in 2007, our fears were confirmed that all might not be well with him yet his officials continued to say that he is hale and hearty. I think something is fishy,” said one of law makers shortly after Onyebuchi presented the budget to the House last week.

It was gathered that lawmakers had decided to send a delegation to visit Chime wherever he is to ascertain whether he is no longer capable of spearheading the affairs of the state and to enable them invoke the constitution and formally swear in Onyebuchi as the substantive Governor, but the move reportedly hit the rocks by the refusal of a powerful individuals in the state government, who refused to release funds for the visit. It was learnt that secret meetings were being held regularly by members of Chime’s kitchen cabinet to checkmate the activities of the legislators.