Lawmakers can't impeach me, Gov Chime boast

The  assembly complex in Enugu State was under lock and key on Tuesday as new twists emerged in the plot to impeach Governor Sullivan Chime.

Some policemen, which were positioned in front of the locked gates, prevented both staff and visitors from gaining access to the assembly.

There has been a showdown between the two factions in the House – the pro-impeachment lawmakers led by the Speaker, Eugene Odoh and the anti-impeachment legislators who had on Monday sacked Odoh and elected   Chinedu Nwamba as the new speaker.

The 24 members of the assembly, including both factions, held "peace meeting" with Governor-elect Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi in his Enugu residence on Tuesday who succeeded in brokering a truce between the two groups. He was said to have settled the disagreement   between the aggrieved lawmakers and the governor with the decision to suspend the impeachment process, and also to take other steps to resolve the crisis in the assembly within two weeks.

Before the meeting with the Governor-elect on Tuesday, Chime had on Monday night boasted that the Odoh-led legislators could not impeach him since he had not been served with an impeachment notice. He cited portions of the 1999 Constitution to advance his argument, said he would have left the Government House for his village in Udi by the time the plot to impeach him could become effective.