Finally, the truth behind the recent upheaval in Aninri council area is revealed. The Mail reported that Leader of the Legislative Chamber was impeached.
The Aninri 11th Assembly removed Philip Igwe on Monday in unanimous votes of 9 of 9 councillors. Emmanuel Ajah was elected the new leader.
The lawmakers said their 4-month-long investigation had indicted Igwe as a thief. Since then he hasn’t released any public statement, but his supporters have continued to push the narrative that a clandestine executive influence was behind the young legislator’s ordeal.
Reacting on the development, the Supervisor for Health, Christian Ike, a powerful person in Nwanjoku-led administration, dismissed the allegation.
“Those saying that don’t know what they’re saying. I learnt of what happened just the same way all other persons heard about it.
“The impeachment was purely the personal business of the councillors. Quote me anywhere, the executive arm didn’t have a hand in it. We can’t possibly be meddling in their [councillors] affairs while there are so much on our table,” Ike said.
Prince Ugochukwu Nwanjoku, the chairman of the council, also dismissed the accusation, calling it the “work of lazy minds.”
“The legislators chose him [Philip Igwe] their leader last year. They dismissed him by themselves, this year. How is that my or the business of the executives? We’re certainly going to work with whosoever the councillors present to the council as their leader. Period,” Nwanjoku said.
Philip Igwe is the first prominent politicians to be so humiliated in recent time. Sometimes in 2020, the councillors nearly impeached the chairman, Ezekiel Chukwu, in one of the deadliest ambush in Aninri politics. But Chukwu’s successor, Bennett Ajah, took power and squeezed life out of Aninri Legislature throughout his bloody two-year reign.
- “He is a big-time thief,” reliable sources reveals why Philip was impeached
- “Philip is guilty,” Aninri councillors tell the real story behind his impeachment
A celebrated lawyer from Aninri, who prefered anonymity, said Philip Igwe could appeal his removal. But many insider sources believed the embattled lawmaker would not toll such a line. For one thing, his colleagues are bitterly against him and have been considering the option of actually dragging him to the EFCC.