The Imo State House of Assembly has suspended four of its members during Tuesday’s plenary session.
News About Nigeria reports that the Speaker of Imo State House of Assembly, Chike Olemgbe, on Tuesday, announced the suspension of four members for an alleged plot to impeach the speaker.
The suspended lawmakers included Ahiazu-Mbaise, Samuel Otuibe; Ezinihitte-Mbaise, Henry Agbasonu; Okigwe, Chidiebere Ogbunikpa and Oru-West, Dominic Ezerioha.
The Speaker said the decision to suspend them was taken at the executive session.
The Speaker also announced that all standing Committees belonging to the suspended members have been retrieved from them.
It was learnt that during the plenary, the Speaker made minor reshufflement on the standing Committees.
Some of the suspended members present during the announcement declined to speak to newsmen.
On June 7, the Imo House of Assembly summoned the publisher of an online newspaper, Nigerian Watchdog, over a report against a lawmaker in the state.
The publisher, Precious Nwadike, was accused of publishing an allegedly defamatory story against Ikenna Ihezuo, the lawmaker representing Orlu State Constituency.
The house summoned Mr Nwadike who is also the editor-in-chief of the newspaper, in response to a complaint by Mr Ihezuo at the plenary in Owerri on Thursday.
In the report published by the Nigerian Watchdog Newspaper, the Chairperson of the All Progressives Congress APC in Orlu Local Government Area, Stanley Nwosu, was quoted as saying that he prevented the lawmaker from diverting 65 bags of rice released by the state government as palliative for the Orlu State Constituency.
The newspaper did not mention Mr Nwosu’s name in the report but only identified him by his titled name, ‘“Ochinanwata” and his position as APC chairperson in the council area.
The paper also added the reaction of the lawmaker, who described the APC chairperson’s allegations as “lies.”
