By Anayo Okoli 

 Umuahia -The political crisis in Abia State deepened yesterday after the deputy governor, Comrade Chris Akomas who is under investigation by a panel for impeachment offences resigned from office.

Akomas said he decided to resign because it had become clear that Governor Theodore Orji no longer wanted him as his deputy, and had instigated the House of Assembly to impeach him.

Mr. Akomas, at a press conference said his resignation letter to the governor was dated July 27, 2010, with effective date from July 30, 2010.

The embattled deputy governor was served a six point impeachment allegations by the state House of Assembly which followed it up with a directive to the Chief Judge to set up a panel to investigate the allegations. The panel began siting on Thursday and Akomas appeared to defend himself with his lawyers.

On Friday, however, Akomas walked out on the panel accusing it of having a predetermined agenda to nail him. The action brought the panel sitting to an abrupt end.

However, the state government, in a swift reaction, said the deputy governor had not resigned but was only trying to dodge the panel because the game was up for him.

The special adviser to the governor on media and publicity, Chief Anthony Agbazuere, who addressed journalists insisted that Akomas had not resigned. He said no letter of resignation had been received by the governor “to the best of my knowledge”.

He said that if Akomas wanted to resign he should have followed the due process as stipulated in Section 306 (1, 2&5) of the 1999 Constitution.

Citing some relevant section of the Constitution Agbazuere said: “The resignation of any person from any office established by this constitution shall take effect when the writing signifying the resignation is received by the authority or person to whom it is addressed”.

But a member of the deputy governor’s legal team, Obinna O. Nkume, said that it was “evidently clear that the kangaroo panel” was out to do a hatchet job. According to him, they had showed their bias by constraining the deputy governor to put in his 25 witnesses in one day whereas the claimants were given two days to put in two witnesses.