I was detained twice trying to save Okorocha from public disgrace —Madumere

The embattled Imo State deputy governor, Prince Eze Madumere, has reacted to the move by the state House of Assembly to impeach him.

He denied abdicating his duty and being imprisoned for theft in the United States of America as alleged in the petition seeking for his impeachment.

The deputy governor claimed that the two occasions he had to go through the pains of losing his freedom in detention were all in the course of saving the State Governor Rochas Okorocha from public disgrace.

The state Assembly had on Tuesday commenced impeachment against him following a motion moved by the deputy speaker of the House, Ugonna Ozuruigbo.

Madumere, in a petition signed by about 13 out of the 27 members of the Assembly, was accused of abdication of office and getting convicted for theft in the United States of America.

But responding in a statement through his chief press secretary, Uche Onwuchekwa, Madumere denied the allegations, describing the move by the House against his seat as mere act of calling “the dog a bad name in order to hang it.”

The statement read in part, “By our records, the Deputy Governor of Imo State, Prince Eze Madumere, has never abdicated any of his responsibilities.

“There are laid down procedures through which a Deputy Governor or any member of the executive Council can be invited for Executive Council Meeting. We hereby state that the Deputy Governor has never been invited for such meetings, either through a memo or via any official notices and thereby cannot stand against the deputy governor within the period in review.

“Refusal to attend, and to hold meetings with the governor is, to say the least, another exercise in triviality as the deputy governor cannot force himself on the governor, especially when he has been tagged a pariah in the government circle.

“To this extent, where the deputy governor’s inputs are needed, there are right procedures through which he could be reached.

The most embarrassing among the spurious allegations is the annoying allegation of concealment of felonious conduct affecting the presentation of self as eligible candidate of office of deputy governor of Imo State.

“The deputy governor of Imo State, Prince Eze Madumere, has never been convicted of any civil matter, let alone theft.

“We are pained to state that the two occasions that the Deputy Governor had to go through the pains of losing his freedom in detention were all in the course of saving Owelle Rochas Okorocha from public disgrace.

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“It will be recalled that Prince Madumere, shortly after Achike Udenwa’s victory at the polls in 1999, had to face contempt of court for failure to make it to the court.

“He was in detention in the United States for about one month all because he was delayed by Governor Okorocha. To the glory of God, Prince Madumere was acquitted of any wrongdoing.

“The second time he had to stoop low so that Governor Okorocha might be spared the humiliation of getting incarcerated, Prince Madumere again yielded and was detained for almost two months on phony charges, which he was also absolved of.”

The impeachment threat is believed to be part of the running battle between Governor Okorocha and his deputy, Madumere over the control of APC in the state.

 

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