The alleged impeachment notice sent to the Delta State House Assembly seeking the removal of the Chairman of Burutu Local Government Area, Hon. Ebikeme Clark, has been described as illegal and lacking in merit for failing to follow due process.
Some councillors from Burutu Legislative Arm including the Wards 13 and 14 councillors; Hon. Joseph Asiaye Alubeze and Hon. Sunday Oruekpeti respectively disowned the development saying the clerk of the Arm was not present at the sitting.
Ebikeme, son of a former Federal Commissioner of Information and convener of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Chief Edwin Clark, was reportedly sacked by some councillors of the Legislative Arm on Tuesday over alleged misconduct and financial misappropriation.
While distancing themselves from the purported action of the house, the lawmakers said the clerk of the house, Mr. Choice Weleke, was not even in the sitting as the clerk is only has the right to sign such resolution on behalf of the house to the state House of Assembly or elsewhere.
Addressing newsmen in Warri on Thursday, Councillor Alubeze stated that it was improper for a recorder to take proceedings without the clerk of the house, adding that he was not even aware of the sitting and the same time they needed to explain in their allegations of how the council chairman misused the council funds.
According to Alubeze, “the legislative arm failed to adhere to order 32.1 of the Standing Rules and Orders which states that the rules and business committee shall allocate time to all motions or bill coming before the legislative house. And the house also failed to adhere to section 31.1 of the Local Government Law Book 2013 as amended which spelt out all the procedures of impeachment of the council chairman.
“If you read these sections I earlier quoted, you will find out that the purported impeachment and vote of no confidence process were not properly followed as such it lacks merit”, he added.
Similarly, Oruekpeti, representing ward 14, added that the procedures were never followed because the chairman was never invited to render income and expenditure and the motion of impeachment and vote of no confidence moved by his colleagues was never referred to the rules and business committee.
He said, “At the emergence of the new speaker, all committees were dissolved and till date no committee has been constituted by the house because this is his first meeting after his emergence on 15th of August, 2017. So with all these explanations it’s very clear that the purported impeachment of the council chairman lacks merit and it is null and void.”
They called on their colleagues to always follow due process in carrying out legislative business as they are role model to future lawmakers, urged political leaders in Burutu Local Government Area to broker peace between members of the legislative arm and the council chairman.
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