N11b Loan: Enugu House Suspends Member, May Arrest AG
The Enugu House of Assembly, on Tuesday, suspended Mr. John bull Nwagu, representing Udi North for alleged gross misconduct.
This is even as the House threatened to issue a warrant of arrest against the state Accountant-General, Mr Paschal Okoli, if he failed to appear before the members on Wednesday (today) to give oral reasons for the non-remittance of March overhead to the House.
Both actions of the House were consequent upon its recent rejection of Governor Sullivan Chime’s request for approval of 11 billion naira loan from the United Bank for Africa.
The suspended member was said to have condemned his colleagues for their action, predicting that the state government would be withholding further overheads to the House.
His comments did not go down well with his colleagues, who felt he was becoming a black leg.
A member for Awgu North, S. K. UdeOkoye, moved the motion for Nwagu’s suspension, which was upheld.
The House also set up a three-man committee to investigate Nwagu’s other conducts and report back to it for necessary action.
In Okoli’s case, the House frowned upon his failure to appear before it last week, describing the action as disrespectful.
He had also, in an alternative to appearance, given written explanations for the non-remittance of the March overhead to the House, attributing the delays to non-receipt of statutory allocation by the state government.
It is believed around the parliamentary circles that the frosty relationship between the house members and the executive branch are unconnected with 11 billion request which the members rejected.
