Attempt To Impeach A’Ibom Gov Fails …Five APC Lawmakers Removed PDP,CUPP Condemn Move, Blame Presidency, Akpabio

The Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly was again thrown into turmoil yesterday as a faction made up of five All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers whose seats were recently declared vacant by the Speaker of the House, Barr Onofiok clashed with those loyal to the Speaker, at the assembly premises, over alleged illegal move to impeach the state Governor, Udom Emmanuel.
The APC lawmakers, yesterday morning, made their way into the House chambers where they quickly held their ‘sitting’ and passed a “resolution” suspending 11 lawmakers.
The ‘sitting’ was presided over by Nse Ntuen (Essien Udim State Constituency).
The other four lawmakers were Gabriel Toby, Etim Ekpo/Ika; Otobong Ndem, Mkpat Enin; Victor Udofia, Ikono; and Idongesit Ituen, Itu.
They were yet to leave the assembly when the state governor, Udom Emmanuel, who belongs to the Peoples’ Democratic Party, arrived with police officers, officials of the State Security Service (SSS), and some youth loyal to the state government and the PDP to chase away the factional lawmakers.
Photos posted on Facebook showed some of the lawmakers fleeing for safety.
A car was reportedly set ablaze during the fracas.
“Let nobody, party think they can intimidate us in Akwa Ibom State,” the speaker, Mr Luke said during plenary, as he, alongside other lawmakers, took control of the assembly.
“The people of Akwa Ibom have shown solidarity as seen in what happened today. We will continue to stand with our governor. We will continue to make laws for our economic development of the state and for the betterment of the youth of the state,” the speaker said.
The House of Assembly, reacting to the latest development, passed a vote of confidence on Mr Luke.
The House called on security agencies to arrest the five lawmakers and a former sergeant-at-arms, Godwin Ukpong.
They also called for the redeployment of the new commissioner of police who is barely one week old in the state.
The police spokesperson in the state, Odiko MacDon, refused to comment on the incident when our correspondent contacted him.
The Commissioner for Information in the state, Charles Udoh, told newsmen it was necessary for the governor to visit the assembly because of the crisis.
“The governor is the chief security officer of the Akwa Ibom State, so when there is a security threat, the governor has to physically supervise what’s going on there,” Mr Udoh said.
“The five dissident, sacked House members, aided by the police with thugs dressed in fake police and army uniform, had invaded the House of Assembly.
“The governor, being the chief security officer of Akwa Ibom state, has an obligation to be there.
“The governor’s presence helped to restore peace and calm at the assembly, especially when you consider the fact that the illegality perpetrated by the five sacked members of the House of Assembly, was aided and abetted by the Nigeria Police Force,” he said.
The five lawmakers, last week, defied the Constitution and announced the “removal” of Mr Luke after their seats were declared vacant for defecting from the PDP to the APC.
The crisis snowballed into the sealing of the assembly by the police in the state which later vacated the premises on Friday.
Last week, the Senate resolved to investigate the crisis after Albert Bassey, a PDP senator from the state, raised a point of order during plenary.
A human right group, the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), last week, cautioned against the withdrawal of the police from the assembly premises, saying such moves could leave room for an attack by hoodlums.
“In the face of the tensed situation currently in the House of Assembly, the withdrawal of the officers and men of the Nigeria police and other security agencies therefrom, is nothing but counter-productive, ill-timed, and could leave a leeway for hoodlums and even aggrieved lawmakers to once again resort to self-help, thereby threatening the peace at the Akwa Ibom House of Assembly and its environs,” the chairman of CLO, Akwa Ibom state branch, Franklyn Isong, said on Friday, while briefing journalists in Uyo.
Meanwhile, Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel called on President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene in the Akwa Ibom Assembly crisis to ensure continuous peace in the state.
Emmanuel said this at a news conference held in the Government Lodge in Uyo yesterday after the pandemonium in the State House of Assembly.
He said that the state would continue to remain peaceful in spite the siege in Akwa Ibom House of Assembly.
The governor said that democracy in the state was being threatened and appealed for support to protect ‘the hard earned democracy.’
Reacting to the incident, the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) yesterday alleged that the presidency, All Progressives Congress (APC) national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole and Senator Godwill Akpabio were behind the crisis rocking the Akwa Ibom House of Assembly.
Imo Ugochinyere, CUPP spokesperson, said five lawmakers had earlier in the day attempted to illegally impeach Governor Emmanuel Udom with the backing of the Nigeria Police.
The statement read: “We heard on good authority that these hoodlums imported by these sponsored five lawmakers forced their way into the legislative house at the early hours of today with the aid of a contingent of policemen drafted by the Inspector of General of Police (IGP) Mr Ibrahim Idris, the National chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC) Adams Oshiomhole to destabilize the state Assembly .
“The suspended five state Assembly members with the support of the police again force their way into the chambers to first sack the speaker, elect a new one and thereafter constitute a kangaroo committee to commence impeachment proceedings against the state governor.
“We the opposition parties condemn in strong terms this attempted rape on our democracy by a few misguided elements in the state and their paymasters.
“This desperation by president Mohammadu Buhari and his APC to take over Akwa Ibom state even ahead of 2019 general election is capable of leading to a repeat of the unfortunate political drama that truncated our democracy in 1983.
“We will not seat down therefore and allow Akpabio and his APC sponsored agents to destabilize Akwa Ibom state Assembly and by extension create another political recipe for a possible collapse of our democracy.
“We call on the people of the state to be ever vigilant and never allow senator Akpabio, and his APC cohorts to remove the speaker or governor in an undemocratic manner.
Also, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has condemned the violent invasion of the Akwa-Ibom state House of Assembly by those it said are security forces allegedly working for the All Progressives Congress (APC) to forcefully take over the control of the legislature and destabilize the state.
In a statement issued by Kola Ologbondiyan, the National Publicity Secretary of the party in Abuja yesterday, the party observed that it was a shocking scene at the Akwa Ibom House of Assembly yesterday, when the invading security forces shot sporadically and disrupted legislative activities in the attempt to assist the APC to forcefully overthrow the duly elected leadership of the state legislature.
The party also accused the former governor of the state, Senator Godswill Akpabio, of stirring the violent invasion in keeping with his threats that the APC will overrun Akwa-Ibom state the same way Adolf Hitler overran Poland during the Second World War.
The statement added: “Nigerians are all aware of how Senator Akpabio declared war on Akwa-Ibom and boasted that ‘War shall see Warsaw and Warsaw shall see war’ in the APC’s quest to take over the state; a mission that has apparently commenced with the violent invasion of the state legislative house.”
The PDP said it was also aware of the role being played by security operatives, particularly the Police, “in this ignoble scheme, which has the backing of the Buhari Presidency to destabilize the oil-rich state ahead of the 2019 general election.”
The PDP cautioned Senator Akpabio, the APC and the Presidency “to note that their design is a recipe for national crisis, as the people of Akwa-Ibom state and indeed, all well-meaning Nigerians across board will never allow anybody to overrun the state or take over any arm of government by any means other than through the laid down process of free, fair and credible elections.”