Maduagwu, Uzoezie tussle over Anambra Assembly’s speakership

Tension as police take over premises
•APGA suspends three ‘ring leaders’ in impeachment saga

There was heavy shooting at the Anambra State House of Assembly yesterday as two Speakers laid claims to the leadership of the Assembly.

The police command resultantly cordoned off the Assembly complex and its environs with over 150 policemen, led by Mike Okoli, a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP).

On Tuesday, 13 lawmakers said they had impeached Speaker Rita Maduagwu and elected Ikem Uzoezie as the “new” Speaker.

But a call by Governor Willie Obiano to his Chief of Staff, Primus Odili, and the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Prof Solo Chukwulobelu, among others, saved the situation.

After their different sittings in the morning and afternoon, both speakers adjourned till yesterday.

As early as 8 a.m, the police and other security outfits had taken over the Assembly premises and the adjourning roads with their vehicles stationed at strategic positions to forestall a breakdown of law and order.

Some of the lawmakers were not allowed to enter the Assembly premises, while the gate of the Assembly was locked.

The Judiciary workers as well as their Assembly counterparts were also frisked before they were allowed to pass.

Reporters were prevented from entering the premises, even after displaying their identity cards.

Also, the state chapter of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has suspended Deputy Speaker Harford Parked for his alleged involvement in the purported impeachment of Speaker Maduagwu.

Also suspended by the party were two suspected ring leaders in the “palace coup”: Majority Leader Victor Okoye and Uzoezie.

Addressing reporters yesterday at the party’s secretariat in Awka, the state capital, APGA’s State Chairman Sir Norbert Obi said the party chieftains were suspended pending the time they would appear before a disciplinary committee for further action.

Obi was accompanied by other chieftains of the party, including the State Secretary, Tony Ifeanya.

He said: “It is the position of the party in Anambra State that the attempted impeachment was not necessary.

“Granted the fact that we had problems during the just-concluded party primaries in the state, but this is not enough to pull the party down; more so when the party has inaugurated a reconciliatory committee to look into the grievances of aggrieved aspirants and other members of the party.

“Every right-thinking Igbo man knows that APGA is not only a party but a movement for the actualisation of Igbo agenda in Nigeria’s polity.”