TheCable

The crisis in the Benue state house of assembly took a new turn on Monday as eight lawmakers served an impeachment notice on Samuel Ortom, governor of the state.

Ortom defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) five days ago.

The plot to oust him is reportedly being coordinated by Terkimbi Ikyange who was removed as speaker of the assembly last week.

A source told TheCable that Ikyange and the lawmakers opposed to the governor forced their way into the assembly complex with the support of the police.

The police have barricaded the assembly since last week following the division among the lawmakers.

Ikyange told journalists that the house has given a seven-day ultimatum to the governor to respond to all the alleged misconduct and corruption charges against him.

He said the lawmakers were angered by the alleged misappropriation of N54 billion from the state’s coffers.

Giving a breakdown of the funds, Ikyange alleged that N22 billion was embezzled from the security vote while N32 billion was from local government funds.

He also said the lawmakers were not happy over the non-payment of salaries.

On Friday, the legislators scaled the fence into the assembly but could not enter the chamber. The 22 who are loyal to the governor then converged on the government house to hold plenary.

At the sitting, a six-week suspension was imposed on Ikyange. They accused him of allegedly disparaging the house by mobilising security operatives to the assembly.

They also called on the police to immediately vacate the assembly complex “as there were no security threats to lives and property”.