…I remain the Legislative Leader except the court says otherwise – Odo
…I have no hands in the impeachment of Nnamdi Odo – Udenu Council Chairman
Doris Ewoh, Enugu
Following the news of his impeachment, the Councillor representing Obollo Afor ward in Udenu local government area of Enugu State, Nnamdi Odo, has stated that he was impeached due to his insistence that the legislators be allowed to carry out their oversight function.
Speaking on his impeachment at a press conference held Wednesday, March 12, 2025, at Top 10 Hotel, Enugu, Odo accused the council chairman, Aka Eze Aka, of sponsoring his impeachment.
He stated that the process that lead to his impeachment began following a letter to the local government’s Head of Department of Works, inviting the Head of the Department to the legislative chambers.
“I’m being witch hunted by Udenu Local Government Chairman, Aka Eze Aka. His plan to impeach me and suspend the chairman committee on works started on the 20th of February, 2025 following a letter of invitation by the House Committee on Works to the Head of Department of Works, inviting him to appear before them for oversight functions in his department.
“The council chairman asked the Head of Department Works not to honour the invitation of the councillors, so as not to carry out their Legislative function. I personally met the chairman at Enugu on the 24th of February, 2025 to plead he allow councillors carry out their oversight functions but according to him, he said we were fighting him.
“I gave him assurance that we were not fighting him except he had things in those documents he didn’t want the public to see.
“He threatened me with impeachment alongside the Committee Chairman on Works, seeking we withdraw the invitation letter. I advised him that that would be counter productive that instead he should invite the councillors and address them but he was adamant and his mind made up that I must be removed”.
The councillor stressed that he became the subject of attack when he and other councillors were summoned to the office of the Local Government Chairman on the 3rd of March, 2025.
“We all thought it was an opportunity for dialogue to de-escalate the tension but instead the chairman threatened that the oversight functions must not take place.
“Those around demanded that we should kneel down and apologize to the chairman for writing to the Town engineer, but a Councillor, Rt. Hon. Daniel asked him if we had erred in carrying out our Legislative functions to apologize. At the end we didn’t reach a truce”.
He insisted that the “purported impeachment” was an attempt to intimidate and silence him from carrying out his duely elected functions which he said was “in line with the charge the governor gave the 260 ward councillors on the 25th of October, 2024 during the onboarding of the 260 ward councillors at old Governor’s lodge”.
Nnamdi Odo promised to challenge his impeachment in court, stating “I remain the Legislative Leader of Udenu LGA, except the court says otherwise and I urge the good people of Obollo Afor ward to remain calm and peaceful.”
When a PACESETTER correspondent reached out to the council chairman, Aka Eze Aka, over the phone to respond to the allegations by Nnamdi Odo, he denied his involvement in the impeachment, stating that the councillors understood the impropriety of Odo’s actions.
“I wasn’t even around at the time of the impeachment”.
He explained that the invitation to the HOD Works didn’t follow due process.
“He [Nnamdi Odo] should answer the question himself, if it is the proper thing that he did, because the 8 or 9 councillors should understand what he did. I think you should ask them this question”, Aka quipped.
Recall that, yesterday, the Leader of the Udenu Local Government Legislative Council, of Enugu State, Hon. Dr. Nnamdi Odoh, was reported to have been impeached by his fellow councillors, who went on to elect Patrick Ugwu as the new Leader of the Udenu Legislative Council.
The full text of Nnamdi Odo’s press conference can be read here.