Impeachment: I was treated like common criminal – Achuba

The impeached deputy governor of Kogi state, Elder Simon Achuba, on Sunday said he was treated like common criminal moments after the State House of Assembly made its pronouncement on Friday.

Achuba, who narrated his ordeals while speaking to journalists at his private residence in Lokoja, said the state was fast degenerating into a “Banana Republic” where lawlessness reigns supreme.

According to him, moments after “the purported impeachment” by the state assembly, his security details were withdrawn and policemen thereafter barricaded his official residence in Lokoja keeping him under “house arrest”.

He said not quite long, the power supply to his official residence was disconnected and that he tried to salvage the situation by asking his technician to put on the generator only for some “armed men” to storm in to remove the battery leaving him in darkness.

Achuba said following the development and the emerging security concerns, he had to make arrangements to move out with few of his personal effects while all his vehicles parked in the residence were not allowed to move out.

“As I address you, my personal belongings are still there in my official residence. I don’t have access to them”, he said.

He described his impeachment as illegal and insisted he remains the deputy governor of the state, adding that any judge that presides over the swearing-in of another deputy governor under the present circumstance would only be sanctioning illegality.

He called on the federal government and the entire nation to rise up to stop the “lawlessness playing out in Kogi” if the nation’s democracy and Rule of Law must thrive.

Achuba also called on the national leadership of his party, the APC to weigh-in on the situation, saying the current portends bad image for the party ahead of the November 16th governorship election.

He called on the Inspector General of Police to call the Commissioner of police in Kogi state to order, alleging that his role in the state has not shown the professionalism expected of him.

Achuba, while applauding members of the judicial panel for standing for justice, expressed the optimism of getting justice in the court.