Juba — The Speaker of Northern Bahr El Ghazal State Assembly Aguer Wol Aguer yesterday in The Citizen interview in Juba insisted that he is still legally the Speaker of the State Assembly which was reportedly opened in his absence and declared the assembly not officially opened.

"The assembly has never been opened officially," Wol proclaimed saying that the governor only issued a decree recalling MPs back within 24 hours two days after he left Aweil for Juba. "A period of seven days or more has to be allowed for the members to report to Aweil from their recess and the opening ceremony has to be done after consultation of the Speaker and the Governor."

Wol said he was in Juba to ask the national government to intervene after secret calls by the Governor to him to resign his position and promising him another job which he rejected. "You resign and I will give you another position," he said referring to the Governor's offer to him. "I am Speaker what other job do I need?" Wol said he had asked the Governor who did not give him any answer.

He admitted that the motion was moved against him but by a single Member of Parliament called Daniel Akol Ding who could not produce a list of other MPs in support of the motion hence he described the motion as outside the Assembly and inside party, the SPLM of which he is also a member.

Wol however added that he has no personal problem with the state Governor.

He explained that the problem started with budget implementation when MPs differed with the State Minister of Finance who failed to answer a question prompting them to raise a motion to remove him because he had failed to implement the budget but according to him the governor intervened to solve it within party level.

Meanwhile the Governor's office in a letter said addressed to the SPLM State Secretary General George Garang Lual Achien, and copied to the SPLM State Chairman, the Governor, on April 2, 2012, claimed thirty MPs signed for removal of the Speaker, Aguer Wol Aguer.

The letter reported that another letter dated May 11, 2012, with the same MPs calling on the Speaker to stop going to the Assembly premises until he cleared the charges leveled against him.

Governor's press secretary, Akol Ayom Wekdit, in the letter alleged that Aguer was charged with maladministration, embezzlement of Assembly funds, incapability to represent the state Assembly and deliberate deterrence of the state budget from being presented to the Assembly, charges Aguer denied as false and baseless. "There is nothing like telling me to keep away from the Assembly.

The MPs elected me in the house and if they also want to impeach me they can do this in the house in my presence and I can abide by the law accordingly. The step which has been claimed to have taken place was unconstitutional and the MPs know there is the Assembly Conduct of Business that must be respected and the transitional constitution of the State