Heavy Crisis Rocks Ebonyi Assembly Over N33bn Loan Approval
Heavy Crisis Rocks Ebonyi Assembly Over N33bn Loan Approval
There is a brewing face-off in the Ebonyi House of Assembly not unconnected to a recent alleged demand by Governor David Umahi for the approval of a fresh N33 billion loan by the Assembly.
It was learnt that Umahi wrote to the House demanding an approval to borrow the money to enable him complete his projects before handing over on May 29, 2023.
This development, The PUNCH gathered, has generated mixed reactions among residents of the state, wondering why the governor was requesting for such a whopping sum in a state already indebted to local and international financial institutions to the tune of N75 billion.
Others are querying the relevance of the loan for project completion, even when Umahi has barely five weeks to leave office.
Meanwhile, the House of Assembly has remained adamant in its refusal to approve the N33 billion request from Governor Umahi despite persistent pressures from him and his foot soldiers.
A source said, “The House has approved the release of N6 billion for the settlement of accumulated gratuities and pensions owed to civil servants in the state since 2015 when Umahi came to office.”
The crisis has further deepened with a call from Assembly members to impeach the Speaker, Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru, if he refuses to resign.
The PUNCH reports that Nwifuru is also the governor-elect in Ebonyi State and has been the Speaker of the House since 2015.
A document, titled, “EBONYI SPEAKER UNDER FIRE TO RESIGN OR RISK IMPEACHMENT,” which was signed by the Public Relations Officer of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly, Mr. Egede Sylvester, obtained by our correspondent, said the members demanded immediate resignation of Hon. Nwifuru and his deputy, Kingsley Ikoro, or they would face impeachment.
The call came barely three weeks after Nwifuru was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission as governor-elect of the state.
The document quoted the Majority Leader of the House, Hon. Victor Chukwu, as having spoken on behalf of his colleagues, saying, “The members of the House are no longer satisfied with the leadership of the House under the administration of Chief Francis Nwifuru and urge him to resign in his honour and for the betterment of the State Assembly and the state at large.”
It added, “His resignation would afford him the opportunity to be fully involved in the affairs of his inauguration as the governor.
“On his part, the Speaker, Nwifuru, said he had duly listened to their plea and thanked them for revealing their grievances, urging them to trade with caution for the peace and development of the state.”
Efforts to get the governor’s reaction on the matter proved abortive on Saturday.
Calls made to the mobile line of his Special Assistant on Media and Strategy, Chooks Okoh, were not answered.
He was also yet to respond to a message sent to the mobile line by our correspondent, as of the time of filing this report on Saturday.
Reacting, the Speaker and Governor-elect, Nwifuru, said the only request from the executive arm of government was on remittances from the excess crude account.
“The request was for 60 per cent of the funds from the Excess Crude Account to be used to offset the state’s liabilities to the Federal Government. We duly approved the request and you did not hear anything about loans,” he said.
He also debunked the report that the Assembly members threatened him with impeachment if he did not resign to prepare for his swearing-in as governor on May 29.
“I did not hear such thing and do not know who told you about it. You should know that such report is fake. You should ask the Leader of the House and its Information Officer whom you claim told you such.”
Also, responding to the loan request, the Special Assistant to Governor David Umahi on Media and Strategy, Mr Chooks Okoh, said there was no official statement as regarding the development but that whatever the governor did had always been for the interest and development of the state.
