…….he did not deny allegations against him – AKHA Spokesman
….impeachment is illegal – Embattled Vice Chairman
…as Ekuakpan drags AKHA, others to court
Written by: Ubong Sampson – Uyo
Earlier this year, the media space was awashed with tales of a notice of impeachment served on Hon. Abasiama Etukakpan, the Vice Chairman of Oruk Anam Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, by the legislative arm of the council on grounds of false information contained in his election documents as submitted to the Akwa Ibom State Independent Electoral Commission (AKISIEC).
The news which sparked controversies with the embattled vice chairman claiming the act was illegal, however, ceased to function in the said position.
While it appeared that Etokakpan had accepted his fate and moved on, the media space was later greeted with the news of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly ordering the reinstatement of Etukakpan after it had waded into the matter and nullified the impeachment.
The matter took a fresh dimension when the legislative council served another impeachment notice on Etukakpan, this time, on grounds of gross misconduct which detailed dereliction of duty, threats to life, among others. But unlike the previous case, the Speaker Aniekan Bassey led 7th Assembly, this time, resolved in favour of the impeachment during its plenary on last tuesday.
Responding to our correspondent on why they reversed the earlier resolution that ordered the reinstatement of the vice chairman, the Chairman, House Committee on Information and Representative of Etinan State Constituency, Barr. Aniefiok Denis, said the grounds on which the legislative council stood to act the second impeachment was proven with evidence which the vice chairman did not deny.
He noted that the House had nullified the initial impeachment because the issue of falsification is a case for the court to decide, hence the illegality of the impeachment and reason it was nullified.
According to House image maker, upon getting notified of the second impeachment notice, the House had set up a committee and mandated it to investigate the allegations on the vice chairman and report to the House within a month.
The state lawmaker continued that both parties were invited to appear before the committee, during which the delegation from the legislative council claimed that the embattled vice chairman had accosted the Leader of the legislative council somewhere around Ikot Oku Ikono flyover and threatened to deal with him both physically and spiritually if he failed to call his members to order and stop forthwith, any attempt to impeach him. This claim, Denis said the vice chairman did not contest.
The Etinan born lawyer also explained that other allegations on Etukakpan including further threatening the leader of the legislative council by proxy, as well as further attempting to intimidate the leader by causing his family – Ikot Akpan Obong, Nung Ikot, Ikot Udo Offiong of Oruk Anam Local Government Area to send a letter dated 8th August, 2021 and signed by Chief Abel Etukakpan (family Head) and 3 others through the UPS Courier Service, were not denied by the accused.
He added that just as in the case of the first impeachment, the House acted in the second within its constitutionally mandated role. He further hinted that the embattled vice chairman had though approached the court for an order that was meant to stop the legislature from acting further on the case, but that the notice was unfortunately served receiving a court order about 24 hours after the House had passed the resolution.
“If he had acted faster than that, the House would have surely stayed further action on the case and give room to the court. Being a lawyer, I cannot even encourage my colleagues to be involved in any act that will impress contempt on the court. But the court notice came this (Wednesday) morning about 10am”, Denis added.
Meanwhile when contacted on phone, Etukakpan admitted having approached the court through his lawyer to seek an order preventing the state legislature from acting further on the case. While declining to speak further on the issue because it is already under court process, the embattled vice chairman claimed his impeachment was illegal, as due process was not followed.
