Immediately after Madumere’s removal, Acho Ihim, the Speaker, read a letter from Governor Rochas Okorocha nominating Ekenze, the Head of Service, as the new Deputy Governor. The impeachment is believed to be politically motivated, as Madumere wants to be become Governor in 2019, against the wishes of Okorocha, who has anointed his son-in-law and Chief of Staff, Uche Nwosu, for the position.
A High Court in Owerri, the Imo State Capital, has stopped the swearing-in of Calistus Ekenze as the new Deputy Governor of the state.
The court issued an interim order stopping the swearing-in ceremony following a suit by Eze Madumere challenging his impeachment as Deputy Governor.
Madumere was impeached on Tuesday by the Imo State House of Assembly after a six-man probe panel found him guilty of abandoning his duties, failing to carry out official duties assigned to him by the Governor and gross misconduct, among others.[story_link align="left"]61558[/story_link]
Immediately after Madumere’s removal, Acho Ihim, the Speaker, read a letter from Governor Rochas Okorocha nominating Ekenze, the Head of Service, as the new Deputy Governor.
However, the impeachment is believed to be politically motivated, as Madumere wants to be become Governor in 2019, against the wishes of Okorocha, who has anointed his son-in-law and Chief of Staff, Uche Nwosu, for the position.
After top government officials had waited for hours at the Sam Mbakwe Exco Chambers at the Government House in Owerri, Miletus Nlemadim, the Imo State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, announced that Ekenze’s swearing-in by the Chief Judge of the state, Pascal Nnadi, had been suspended in compliance with a court order.
Nlemadi explained that the state government, being law-abiding, would do everything possible to vacate the order before swearing in the Deputy Governor designate on a future date.