Governor Martins Elechi: facing impeachment

The political tension in Ebonyi State, eastern Nigeria rose on Friday after the state House of Assembly passed a motion to serve an impeachment notice on the governor of the state, Martin Elechi over allegations of corruption and gross misconduct.

The motion was approved by the Speaker of the House, Chukwuma Nwazunku, after the acting Majority Leader of the House, Francis Nwifruru, read out details of the report of an investigative panel set up to look into the allegations contained in a set of petitions to the House against the governor.

In one of the petitions submitted by the Ebonyi Integrity Group, it was alleged that the state governor, his son, Elechi Elechi, as well as his cronies and aides inflated contract sums and diverted public funds for private use.

A motion to get the petitions investigated was moved by Ogbonnaya Nwifuru, a member representing Izzi West State constituency after which a committee headed by Odefa Odefa, a member representing Onicha South, was instituted for the purpose.

Beyond the allegations, however, the governor had accused some top politicians in the state of frustrating his efforts and planning to ease him out of government.

He told a group of youths who paid him a courtesy visit recently, that the politicians were holding secret meetings to effect his impeachment and take over the reins of the state.

“They said I’m a bad person and that if I continue to remain in power they will not have their way of ruling the state. All I can say is that if they sack me, I will relocate to my home,” he told the youths while appealing to them to resist every plan to make the state ungovernable.