Sacked Obingwa LGA Chairman, Ibe Nwoke slams Ikpeazu, says Abia Gov “committed illegality”

Chief Ibe Nwoke, the sacked Chairman of Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State, has accused Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of committing illegalities in the way he was removed from office.

Nwoke said his sack was “an indication that illegality is becoming the norm in Abia” at a press conference newsmen in his Umuagwula country home on Tuesday.

AbaCityBlog  recalls that Ikpeazu removed Nwoke from office on Monday and replaced him with his former Deputy, Mrs Uloma Nwogu.

The governor said his action on Nwoke’s defection from the ruling-Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the Young Progressives Party (YPP), which offered him the ticket to run for Osisioma/Ugwunagbo/Obingwa Federal Constituency seat.

He said: “I received a letter dated May 23, entitled: ‘Resignation of my party membership’ by Nwoko.

“In consonance with the Laws guiding Local Governments in Abia, the consequence of the letter is that he has breached the provisions of Section 23(1) of the Local Government Law of 2006.

“This makes it imperative that a new chairman would be sworn in to take over the reign of power at that level as the former chairman had decided to pursue his political career on another platform.”

But in a reaction, Nwoke argued that the process through which his deputy was sworn could best be described as “dishonest”.

He said: “I am not surprised over the swearing in of my deputy because illegality has become the order of the day in the state.

“How can you sit in your office and say that you have removed an elected chairman of a Local Government without completing the constitutional process.

“If I have left the party that produced me there is a process to follow in removing me.

“So, this is not a situation of just swearing in the deputy to take over.

“All these things are illegalities.”

Nwoke said that there was no impeachment notice by the Obingwa Legislative Council because of the subsisting court

injunction restraining the councillors from impeaching him without following due process.

He said that he was waiting for legal advice from his legal team on the development.

“That would inform my next line of action,” the embattled former council boss said.