Ibe Nwoko, former chairperson of the Obingwa local government area of Abia state, described the process of her removal as illegal.
Nwoko said this on Tuesday while reacting to his ouster on Monday by Governor Okezie Ikpeazu.
Addressing reporters at his Umuagwula farmhouse about the development, he said his dismissal was “an indication that lawlessness is becoming the norm in Abia”.
Ikpeazu removed Nwoko from his post and replaced him with his former deputy, Uloma Nwogu.
The governor based his action on Nwoko’s defection from the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) to the Young Progressive Party (YPP), which offered him the ticket to run for the Osisioma/Ugwunagbo/Obingwa federal constituency seat in 2023.
The governor said: “I received a letter dated May 23, entitled: ‘Resignation of my party membership’ from Nwoko.
“Under the Laws Governing Local Governments in Abia, the consequence of the letter is that it has breached the provisions of Section 23(1) of the Local Government Act 2006.
“This makes it imperative that a new president be sworn in to assume the reign of power at that level, as the former president had decided to pursue his political career on another platform.”
But Nwoko, in his reaction, argued that the process through which his deputy was sworn in could best be described as “dishonest.”
He said: “I am not surprised by the swearing-in of my deputy because illegality has become the order of the day in the state.
“How can you sit in your office and say that you have removed an elected president of a Local Government Council without completing the constitutional process?
“If I have left the party that produced me, there is a process to follow to remove me. So, this is not a situation of just swearing in the deputy to take over.
“All these things are illegalities.”
Nwoko said the Obingwa Legislative Council had not given notice of an impeachment due to the current injunction preventing councilors from impeaching him without due process.
He said he was awaiting legal advice from his legal team on the development.
“That would inform my next course of action,” the embattled former council president said.
He said his decision to defect to YPP was informed by his desire to serve and provide quality leadership to people in a higher position.
“For the last few months, everyone in Abia knows about the situation and the state of the PDP, which is shrinking daily.
“The way things are going, if we don’t stand up and take the bull by the horns, a lot of things will go wrong.
“So, we are in good faith and concentrating on the task ahead of us to win the election in 2023,” Nwoko said.
(YAYA)