•As Obiano intervenes

From Geoffrey Anyanwu, Awka

The decision by the Speaker of the Anambra State House of Assembly, Rita Maduagwu to abscond with the Mace and the timely intervention of Governor Willie Obiano, yesterday, averted her impeachment.
Yesterday’s impeachment attempt made it the third the Speaker had survived since her assumption of duty three years ago.
Daily Sun gathered that legislators have been having some issues with the speaker and had planned to impeach her yesterday but for the governor’s unscheduled visit to the House and her deft  moves.
The plot to impeach the speaker was said to have leaked to the governor yesterday afternoon and he stormed the Assembly complex without his usual convoy and siren to the surprise and disappointment of the arrowheads of the plot.
Obiano, on arrival, went into a closed-door meeting with the 28 members of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and reportedly pleaded with them to drop the impeachment move.
It was gathered that he made some promises to them and pleaded with them to converge on the Governor’s Lodge for settlement.
After the meeting, the governor rejected newsmen’s request for an interview as he hurried into his car and drove out.
Notwithstanding Obiano’s intervention, majority of the members who were aggrieved, decided to still carry out their plot and went down to the chambers of the House to hold the day’s sitting.
They waited and in turn, some of them went to the speaker’s office to plead with her to come down for the sitting.
They, however, waited in vain as the speaker, unknown to them, had absconded with the mace of the House.
The deputy speaker remained in his office and refused to come to the Chambers even as the Clerk of the House was nowhere to be seen.
The frustration of the members became worse when an improvised mace they brought to carry out the action was discarded by one of them, the member representing Anambra East, Obinna Emenaka.
As the event unfolded, the Assembly complex was surrounded by security men led by the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations), Mr. Mike Okoli with men of Department of Security Services (DSS).
Wearing long faces, the members refused to talk, but the Minority Leader, Onyebuchi Offor, denied knowledge of any plot to impeach the speaker or the governor but condemned the action of the speaker for taking away the mace of the House.
“I was not here when the governor came, but I was told he met with the 28 APGA members. When we decided to come down to the Chambers to hold our sitting, we waited without seeing the speaker and the next thing we learnt was that she had made away with the mace.”
When contacted, Chugbo Enwezor, (Onitsha North I Constituency) said: “Honestly, I really do not know what is going on in the House, I’m confused like other people, but you need to call the principal officers of the House.”
But member representing (Onitsha South), Paddy Aniuno accused the Speaker of not following the rules of the House, alleging high handedness against her.