By Sampson Boron
The Speaker of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Hon. Tonye Isenah, was on Monday impeached by some members of the Assembly.
Isenah was impeached amidst sporadic shots and drama at the assembly complex.
Suspected political thugs had earlier invaded the assembly shooting sporadically to scare both lawmakers and staff of the assembly.
The speaker’s impeachment followed the emergence of Senator Douye Diri as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the November governorship election in the state.
After Diri won the primaries, PDP leaders were said to have asked Isenah to surrender his position to another lawmaker from Southern Ijaw to enable the party garner votes from the council. But Isenah insisted he would not let go of his position before the poll.
The speaker had earlier in a statement by his media aide, Aotendeike Boloigha, said he had served the PDP faithfully and was yet to see how his resignation would help the party in the poll.
But PDP leaders against Isenah were reportedly determined to force him out of the office to make way for a lawmaker from Southern Ijaw to brighten the party’s chances at the poll.
But a source said Isenah’s travails were based on his refusal to initiate an impeachment proceeding against the Deputy Governor, Rear Admiral John Jonah (rtd).
“It is not just about an agreement to step down; it is about the deputy governor. The powers that be accused the deputy governor of planning to defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC) as an incumbent deputy governor. They don’t want that to happen.
“There are insinuations that Jonah wants to join the APC and contest the Bayelsa East senatorial election, which will be vacant if the APC wins the governorship election because the incumbent senator is the running mate to the APC candidate, David Lyon. So, the party leaders want Jonah out of the way but Isenah is refusing to be used to carry out the process,” he said.
