By Vincent Ujumadu

AWKA – GOVERNOR Peter Obi of Anambra State, Tuesday, in Awka, informed secondary school principals and other teachers currently on tour of projects in the state that he was  impeached in 2006 for using direct labour to reconstruct Government House, burnt after the mayhem in the state.

Obi said part of what he met on assumption of office in 2006 were burnt government offices which he set about rebuilding at very minimal cost. He said he did not know that it would lead to his ‘illegal impeachment’.

He said: “The budget made for the reconstruction of the burnt Government House by my predecessor was N298 million. But I did it with a little over N43 million.

“The same applied to the reconstruction of  Governor’s Lodge, which was put at nearly N500 million. I prudently used about N80 million to do it.

“Little did I realise that this did not go down well with my opponents who had seen the inflated money as avenue of milking the state. They viewed my action with hostility and it culminated in my being illegally impeached.”

Obi recalled that he left the organised world of business and banking to enter into politics to contribute his quota to the development of the state, adding that many people even thought he was mad when he declared his intention to dabble into politics.

He said leaving an organised world for the world of politics was like going to hell from heaven, adding, “but one has to make some sacrifices for the good of the state.”