Agbaso contests impeachment at Appeal Court

Sir Jude Agbaso

Sir Jude Agbaso, who was removed as deputy governor of Imo State through impeachment by the state House of Assembly on Thursday, has vowed to explore all legal avenues to contest what he described as, ‘unlawful’ and induced impeachment by the state House of Assembly. Agbaso, noted that Governor Rochas Okorocha had set out from the beginning to ensure that he was removed from the office of the deputy governor, adding that nothing could have made the House, which he said was induced by the Executive to exonerate him, even though his innocence was established.

Speaking on behalf of the impeached deputy governor, who was said to have gone into hiding to evade possible arrest, his media consultant, Barrister Emperor Iwuala, said that Agbaso had already filed notice of appeal to challenge the controversial ruling of an Owerri High Court, which dismissed one of the suits filed to stop his impeachment. The suit, which was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, sought to enforce the fundamental rights of the deputy governor and to restrain the House from continuing with the impeachment proceedings. Meanwhile, the Special Adviser on Media to Governor Rochas Okorocha, Mr. Ebere Uzoukwa, said that further investigations and possible prosecution of the former deputy governor are now the responsibilities of the relevant anti graft agencies. According to him, “the government has done its job.

We cannot do the job of the security and anti graft agencies. They know what to do since case of misappropriation of funds has been established against the impeached deputy governor”. But, the chieftain of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) and elder brother to the impeached deputy governor, Chief Martins Agbaso, said yesterday, that his brother can never go in into hiding as rumoured, but that it is the officials of the state government and those in whose accounts the controversial N458M were traced to should be the ones to go into hiding. Chief Agbaso pointed out that his younger brother was actually the one that invited the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) into the matter and so cannot be the one that should be hiding. He maintained that the judgment and impeachment would be contested in the law courts as they have filed notice of appeal against the High court ruling. Source:sunnewsonline.com