A Former Speaker and the Court of Appeal ousted honourable member that represented Ehime Mbano State Constituency in the Imo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Lawman Duruji has made more revealing facts surrounding his exit from the State legislature after getting a second term ticket.
Information available to Trumpeta has it that Duruji seems not to have laid to rest the matters concerning what he claims is ‘undeserved’ removal by the Court of Appeal in what can be described as the highest level of judicial miscarriage of our time.
He not only prayed that the wrath of God will descends on those who played significant roles in his removal, he accused has named the Imo State Speaker, Rt. Hon. Chiji Collins as the arrowhead that masterminded his removal.
It would be recalled that Rt. Hon. Lawman Duruji was a vocal member of the Imo 8th House of Assembly.
Where he rose to the most coveted position of Speaker before his reelection into the House in the 2019 general elections.
He was also a frontline contender for the Speakership position. A position he almost secured but for the insistence of the PDP led Executive arm under Rt Hon Emeka Ihedioha tenure which imposed Chiji on the House as Speaker.
However, in what appeared to be a shocking revelation, Duruji accused Chiji Collins as the architect of the judicial suffocation that led to his removal through the appeal court, even as he pointed out that the singular act has left Ehime Mbano in anguish following the vacuum his absence from the House has created.
A public opinion carried out showed that the removal of the Ehime Mbano born astute Lawmaker remains a brunt akin to the enduring taste of an undeserved hurt to the good people of Ehime Mbano.
Duruji disclosed to Trumpeta that the then State Executive Council allegedly took over the Appeal Court matter of the APC which he claims was with seeming fake results and suspected conspiracies with the Justices who according to purportedly delivered a kangaroo judgement without recourse to facts as clearly evidenced before it. He swore to make copies of the judgement public to show Imolites how the judiciary ridiculed itself.
Fielding more questions, Rt Hon. Lawman Duruji said, “Chiji Collins was my colleague in the 8th House without a single bill or motion standing in his name. He was a dormant member and knew nothing about parliamentary business to the extent that he never attracted a single project to his Constituency. Even today as Speaker he hasn’t responded to his Isiala Mbano people talk more of the other constituencies in Okigwe that have suffered because of his inept and passive representation”.
He continued, “One of the big mistakes made by former Governor Emeka Ihedioha was the imposition of Chiji Collins as Speaker, even when security report revealed certain limitations against his capacity to be number one lawmaker, one of the House members also disclosed he filled fake credentials in INEC form CF001, which automatically disqualified him from occupying public office”.
The former Lawmaker recounted with bitterness how Chiji Collins fought hard to allegedly silence him and other members from the same Okigwe zone when petitions against his credentials mostly from his peers, associates and kinsmen flooded the House. He said that attempt by a committee he headed to investigate the matter after NYSC wrote to the House, inviting the Speaker and Clerk to Abuja irked the Speaker who declared him an enemy.
Duruji maintained that the Speaker whose anti democratic tendencies became manifest on emergence turned intolerant of opposing views and could not stand dissent opinions from his colleagues which he said is a major parliamentary ingredient.
“The Speaker became restive as the agitations for the investigation of his credentials kept rising with strong indications on ground that he is s not only suspected of parading a fake PhD, but also exempted himself from national service believed to be unacceptable”.
“The Speaker fully aware that the basic requirement to contest for House of Assembly is WASC, and having shot himself on the foot by filling suspected fake credentials got provoked by my resolve to investigate the matter, then descended on me and other ranking members. He went ahead to strip the ranking members of their rights and privileges. And equally relieved them of juicy committee positions”.
In a related development, the ousted legislator noted that the Speaker having failed to shut him down on the certificate saga accused Chiji of parliamentary intimidation, coercion, and other undemocratic conduct to secure the support of the government to oust him from the House through a matter that was ongoing at the time in Court of Appeal. Duruji accused the PDP led government of relying on the false information and backed the judicial action against him.
According to the Ehime Mbano born politician, ” I have all my evidence intact that Chiji Collins got the Executive endorsement through instilling fear on them that I was a grand opponent of the government and its policies. And that I have the capacity and tendency to truncate government bills on the floor of the House. He misled the government and they believed him. Unaware that Chiji Collins, the
“Papa Doc Duvalier” of the 9th House just wanted to cover his tracks and derail the process of investigation of his alleged fake credentials.
Duruji added, “The plot included the nomination of an ad-hoc committee instead of the ethics and privileges committee of the House headed by the then Governor’s foot soldiers and an instruction that the committee dies at the very moment of inauguration and withdrawal of the invitation of the publisher of Bigtruth newspapers who first alarmed the public that the Speaker parades fake credentials. Secondly to do all to oust me from the House through an influenced judicial process then at the stage of Appeal.
Duruji while arguing the certificates paraded by Chiji were questionable, vowed to drag the speaker to court if the House fails to investigate the matter and makes its findings know within two weeks.
