Imo State Deputy Governor Eze Madumere was removed from office yesterday by the House of Assembly for “gross misconduct”.
Nineteen of the 27 members of the Assembly voted for his removal after reviewing the report of the seven-man panel set up by the chief judge to investigate allegations of misconduct levelled against him.
The panel report, according to Speaker Acho Ihim, indicted Madumere.
The motion for his impeachment was moved by Lugard Osuji (Owerri Municipality) and seconded by Victor Onyewuchi (Owerri North).
The deputy governor was accused of abandoning his official duties for three months without reasons or official permission, failure to perform constitutional duties, like attending State Executive Council (Exco) meetings and State Security Council, failure to attend meetings with the governor and other government functionaries and concealment of felonious act in the United States of America (U.S.A).
Head of Service (HoS) Callistus Okenze was cleared by the Assembly to replace Madumere.
Okenze is from Mbaitoli Local Government Area in Owerri zone, where the former deputy governor hails from.
Madumere became deputy governor in 2013 after Jude Agbaso, who won the election with Governor Rochas Okorocha, was removed for alleged corrupt practices.
Before his removal, Madumere obtained an injunction from an a Federal High Court in Abuja, restraining the Chief Judge, the Speaker and members of the House of Assembly from continuing with the impeachment proceeding because he was not formally served, as stipulated by law.
But the injunction was vacated by another Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, presided over by Justice A. O. Musa, on the grounds that no court had the powers to restrain the House of Assembly from carrying out an impeachment or a state Chief Judge from carrying out his legitimate duty, including the setting up of the mandatory seven-man committee required to investigate allegations against the deputy governor.
Madumere, who was elevated to deputy governor from Chief of Staff, fell out of favour with Okorocha over the 2019 sucession plan.
He is among a group of politicains who organsed a purported congress that produced an execo which the court later dissolved.
The post Imo Deputy Governor Madumere removed for ‘gross misconduct’ appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.
Source: The Nation
We appreciate you for reading our post, but we think it will be better you like our facebook fanpage and also follow us on twitter below.