The impeachment bells that have been ringing in Imo State grew louder yesterday after members of the State House of Assembly, defied a court order and proceeded to vote on impeaching the deputy governor, Sir Jude Agbaso; who is being accused of collecting N458 million as kickbacks from a contractor. Agbaso has denied all the charges and dismissed the impeachment as a political witch-hunt.
The embattled Agbaso, who has been battling with the allegation of corruption in office, was impeached by 25 out of the 26 lawmakers that constitute the Assembly.
Agbaso has continued to maintain that he neither demanded for nor received the alleged sum of N458 million as bribe from J-PROS Limited, a construction firm handling the rehabilitation of Sam Mbakwe Road in Owerri. He has challenged the lawmakers to follow due process by inviting security and anti-corruption agencies, including the EFCC to come and investigate the allegations against him. He even approached a Federal High Court sitting in Owerri and seeking for an order to suspend the impeachment process, which the court granted.
It was therefore surprising that lawmakers, who are supposed to lead by example in respecting laws should defy the court order and proceed with the impeachment. Agbaso is yet to comment on the impeachment.
