Imo: Ihedioha Warns Sacked Council Heads

By Fola James

The Imo state  government will not allow sacked local government chairmen to throw the state into crisis over their plan to resume work by force.

On Monday, the sacked chairmen claimed they have taken over 19 out of the 27 Local government councils in the state.

But Governor Emeka Ihedioha said effort by the former council boss to resort to self help will be resisted and those trying to plunge the state into violence, punished accordingly.

The sacked chairmen, it was learnt had stormed the 27 LGAs offices claiming the governor has no power to sack them.

They said the Supreme Court judgement concerning Ekiti State, has nullified power of the governor to remove them from office.

Meanwhile, the state government in its response said the apex court judgment is not a sweeping one, therefore cannot affect the state.

The special Assistant to Governor Ihedioha on New Media, AIC Akwarandu, said the governor  was popularly elected by the people of the state and the decision to sack the council chairmen was done in consultation with Imo people.

What the aggrieved former LGA chairmen are trying to do, Akwarandu said, is to roll back the achievements of Governor Ihedioha.

But the government will not allow this to happen, he said.

On his part, Sam Onwuemedo, a former  commissioner in Governor Rochas Okorocha’s government said, “The effort made by  the  PDP government in the state to get court injunction on Monday  against the resumption of duty by the elected  council chairmen and councilors failed woefully because none of the  judges approached  agreed to do that.

“Having failed on the issue of court order, the government cajoled the police, leveraging on the newness of the Commissioner of Police, who is not up to one week in the state, to  roll out tanks in some local government areas  against the chairmen and councilors and the APC members who had accompanied them to their respective LGAs headquarters to resume duty.