Full detail of How House of Assembly Drama That Almost Cost Anambra Speaker Her Job

Speaker of Anambra State Assembly, Rt Hon Rita Maduagwu yesterday evening escaped with the  mace to avoid impeachment

Member of the state house of assembly, which is dominated by members of her party, All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA THISDAY gathered had perfected moves to impeach her, following some grievances they harbour against her.

A source said that the grouse of the lawmakers ranged from her refusal to share with them some of the bounties that had accrued to her office from the governor, and also blocking their moves to get theirs.

The speaker having received information of the plan to impeach her in yesterday’s plenary refused to join her members for the plenary after the bell signifying the commencement of plenary was rung.

Meanwhile, THISDAY reports that shortly before the commencement of executive session, the Anambra State Governor, Chief Willie Obiano had paid a surprise visit to the assembly without his retinue of aides, and had immediately gone into a closed door meeting with some of the legislators who are members of his party.

It was gathered that his reason for visiting the assembly was to prevail on the members not to impeach the speaker. He however Declined interview from journalists as he left the assembly.

Attempts by members of the assembly to bring the speaker to the chambers for the plenary proved abortive as they rather noticed she had left the complex with the mace.

Members who were hell bent on impeaching her had also produced an improvised mace, with the hope of carrying on the task, but were stopped by some pro-speaker lawmakers, led by Hon Obinna Emenaka who seized the mace and insisted on an adjournment.

Some members of the assembly who spoke with our correspondent said they was no plot to impeach the speaker, wondering why she has to shun sitting with her deputy and even taking the mace with her.

The chairman house committee on Information, Hon Kingsley Iruba told journalists that, “the house had its normal sitting, except for the absence of the speaker and his deputy, the clerk of the house and his deputy too.

“We had our normal sitting in their absence and adjourned for Tuesday  next week, nothing abnormal happened.”

He refused to comment on the earlier visit by the governor, saying that the governor was at liberty to visit anytime, and that there was no special reason for his visit.

But a PDP member in the house, Hon Onyebuchi Offor, said to be one of the champions of the impeachment of the speaker said, “we were surprised over the attitude of the speaker today. We did not have any previous fracas, but to our surprise, when the bell rang to signify the sitting of the house, we noticed that she has disappeared with the mace. We do not know why, we will ask her when we see her.”

Another member, Obinna Emenaka said everything was going on well at plenary until he noticed that the speaker was not coming, and that the mace was not available and that members had smuggled in a mace that was not that used for the regular sitting, he had to raise objection and also confiscate it.

As at the time of filling this report, a source close to the Anambra government told THISDAY that the members of the house had been invited to the governor’s lodge for a meeting with the governor.