Ailing
Governor Sullivan Chime of Enugu State may be “smuggled” into the country on
December 31, the SUNDAY PUNCHlearnt on
Friday.
Chime
left the country on September 19 for medical treatment but the state government
had continued to insist that he was only on vacation.
The
six weeks leave of absence Chime applied for ended on November 2.
It
was gathered that the state government muted the idea to bring Chime back in
order to stop the state House of Assembly from initiating an impeachment
process against him.
To
make the journey back to Nigeria easy and without any discomfort for the
governor who, had reportedly been bedridden since September 20, 2012, a
reliable source at the Enugu State Government House stated that Chime was moved
from an undisclosed hospital in New Delhi, India to another in London on Wednesday.
Pleading
anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, the source said, “Chime,
from what his wife said, is receiving treatment for leukaemia (cancer of the
blood) and other diseases. There are plans to bring him home this year before
the lawmakers make any move.”
Meanwhile,
members of the Enugu State House of Assembly are weighing the option of
impeaching Chime, among other considerations, if he fails to return to the
country by January 2, 2012.
They
commenced this move after the acting Governor, Mr. Sunday Onyebuchi, presented
the state 2013 budget last Friday.
Speaking
to our correspondent in confidence, some of the lawmakers stated
that the decision to commence impeachment process against Chime if he failed to
return by January 2 would be the right step in the overall interest of the
state.
One
of the lawmakers, from Enugu East, said, “I think most of my colleagues are now
convinced that we must act now to save us from this unwarranted embarrassment.
We are concerned about the health challenges of the governor, but the state
must move on.
“Another
option, if we must give the governor a soft landing, is to empower the acting
governor to function as a substantive governor.”
“If
we do this, it would adequately fill the vacuum that Chime’s absence is
currently creating.”
Source:
Punch
No comments:
Post a Comment