From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The Inspector General of Police (IGP) has been called upon to urgently intervene in the ongoing political crisis in Ebonyi State, which has pitched the state Governor, David Umahi, and the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Francis Nwifuru, against the former deputy speaker, Odefa Obasi Odefa, for the overall interest of peace in the state.
This is contained in a petition addressed to the office of the IGP by Nkemakolam Okoro, counsel to the deputy speaker of the Ebonyi state House of Assembly.
The petition dated February 22, 2022, was received at the Central Mail Collection Department of the Force Headquarters, Abuja, on the same date. Besides the governor and the speaker of the House of Assembly, the petitioner equally accused Kingsley Ikoro.
Odefa, who attributed his current ordeal to his refusal to decamp from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), said his life is now in danger.
He chronicled some unpleasant actions carried out against him by the state government on account to his decision to remain in the PDP to include but not limited to intimidation, harassment and other acts capable of breaching public peace in the state.
He disclosed that his purported letter of resignation as a deputy speaker of the House of Assembly was allegedly forged, just to remove him from office and as a member of the state House of Assembly.
This, he alleged, was shortly after he held a press conference in Abuja, where he publicly affirmed his membership of the PDP.
The petition reads in part: “It is our client’s instructions that he was elected as a Member of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly, under the platform of the People’s Democratic Party, in March 2019. Sometime in June 2019, our client was elected as the deputy speaker of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly.
“It is further to our client’s instructions, that on the 19th day of November, 2020, the governor of Ebonyi state, who was elected under the platform of the People’s Democratic Party, defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). The governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi, made desperate efforts to drag high ranking members of the PDP in Ebonyi State with him to the APC, which was resisted by the said members of the PDP.
“That, just recently, David Umahi approached him to join his team to the APC National Convention earlier scheduled to hold in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, in February 2022, so as to support his presidential ambition. He informed the governor that he will not join him at the APC convention, being a member of the PDP.
“That pursuant to his conversations with the governor, he held a press conference on February 19, 2022, wherein, he publicly reaffirmed his membership of the PDP. That his public declaration and affirmation of his membership of the PDP incensed the governor Umahi, who immediately put the machinery in motion to illegally remove him as member of the state House of Assembly and as the deputy speaker of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly.