The tenure of Kogi state deputy governor, Mr Simeon Achuba may be in jeopardy as fourteen members of the Kogi State House of Assembly loyal to the embattled Speaker, Honourable Momoh Jomoh Lawal, on Friday, signed an impeachment notice against him.
On Friday, the 14 members, during a plenary presided over by Speaker Lawal in Abuja, resolved to serve the impeachment notice on the deputy governor for allegedly causing chaos among members of the assembly and the executive arm of government, only a week after being confirmed and sworn in.
Achuba is to respond within 14 days in line with Section 188 of 1999 Constitution as amended.
The notice, entitled “Impeachable Offences Committed By His Excellency, the Deputy Governor of Kogi State, Hon Simeon Achuba,” was signed by all the members that were present at the plenary in Abuja.
His sins are said to include “undue” interference in the affairs of the state House of Assembly thereby causing friction between the executive and the legislative arms of government in the state.
It was also alleged in the notice that he was instigating members of the assembly to “forcefully and unlawfully” change the leadership of the House without recourse to the rules of the House.
According to the notice, “five members of the House to sit despite the proclamation by the Speaker of the Kogi State House of Assembly adjourning to a later date.”
They insisted that the deputy governor was performing legislative function, that is swearing in of the “purported Speaker of the Kogi State House of Assembly” in his office, contrary to the extant provisions of the House Rules and in “flagrant abuse” of the tenets of democracy and separation of powers as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution.
He was accused of generally causing disaffection by inciting certain sections of the state against each other, therefore, causing disharmony and security threat in the state.