IMO: Assembly crisis deepens, budget face-off persists, as Speaker debunks suspension of Assembly clerk

The drama playing out in Imo State House of Assembly over Governor Rochas Okorocha’s 2018 budget presentation is not coming to an end. This is as Speaker Acho Ihim has refuted claims that the Clerk of the House, Chris Duru, has been suspended.

First, the state lawmakers had on Tuesday last week deserted the Assembly premises on the day Okorocha was to present the p 2018 budget to the lawmakers.

On return to the Assembly on Thursday, the lawmakers had during their plenary, following a motion raised by the majority leader, Mr. Lugard Osuji, announced the suspension of the clerk, Duru.

Although the lawmakers claimed that Duru’s suspension was due to his alleged “gross misconduct,” there are claims however that his suspension was not unconnected with his support of the Speaker, who is believed to be doing everything to protect the governor’s interest.

There were even speculations that Duru’s suspension was a plot by the lawmakers to get at the Speaker as well as Governor Okorocha.

But Speaker Ihim, who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Marcel Ekwezuo, has denied that the clerk was suspended by the Assembly. According to him, what the lawmakers did was to raise a committee to probe issues of gross misconduct which Osuji leveled against Duru.

He has, therefore, called on members of the public not to jump into conclusions on the matter until the allegations were proved. He said that the committee has a week to submit its report.

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“Imo State House of Assembly has debunked the various mass media reports falsely claiming that Clerk of Imo State House of Assembly, Mr. Chris Duru has been suspended from office.

“A five-man committee led by Honourable Kennedy Ibeh, member representing Obowo State Constituency was set up to investigate activities of the Clerk beginning from 2011 till date to ascertain the veracity or otherwise of the allegation against Mr. Chris Duru,” Ekwezuo said.

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