Despite court order, Imo Assembly sacks dep. Governor

Imo state Deputy Governor, Eze Madumere was yesterday impeached by 19 of the 37 the state lawmakers.
The deputy governor, who recently signified his interest to become state governor, had for sometime been at loggerheads with Governor Rochas Okorocha.
Speaking on Madumere’s impeachment, Speaker of the House Assembly, Acho Ihim, said the decision was taken after careful consideration of reports from a panel constituted by the state’s Chief Judge.
The deputy governor was accused of abandoning his duty for three months and failure to carry out his constitutional duties among others.
It would be recalled that Justice Ben Iheka of the Imo High Court issued an order restraining the lawmakers and the Imo Chief Judge, Justice Paschal Nnadi from continuing the Deputy Governor’s impeachment process.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the state Head of Service, Callistus Ekenze, was named as Madumere’s replacement.
But Madumare was quoted as saying that Okrocha could not stop him.
This is coming just as Justice Ben Iheka stopped the panel set up by the Chief Judge of the state, Paschal Nnadi, the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Acho Ihim, and the State House of Assembly from taking any further action in the impeachment process against Madumere until the hearing and determination of the suit.
The panel was set up by the chief judge to investigate the allegations of gross misconduct leveled against the deputy governor by the state House of Assembly.
Justice Iheka also directed the three members of the impeachment panel that were yet to be served the motion for interlocutory injunction to respect the suit, which before the court and adjourned hearing of the case till August 13.

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