20 Feb 2013

Impeached Northern Marianas Governor Fitial resigns

3:34 pm on 20 February 2013

The impeached Governor of the Northern Marianas, Benigno Fitial, has resigned with immediate effect.

The resignation comes a day after he was served a writ of summons to appear before the Senate to defend himself on March the 7th.

Our correspondent in the Northern Marianas, Mark Rabago, says Mr Fitial is the first Governor of the Northern Marianas to resign, a little over a week after becoming the first Governor to be impeached.

"In his resignation letter that he submitted this morning, he said his personal health and that is in the best interests of the Commonwealth that he is resigning, that he has reached this decision and he is proud of his accomplishments since November 2009."

Mark Rabago says Mr Fitial made no mention of his impeachment in his resignation.

The Lieutenant Governor, Eloy Inos, will this afternoon be sworn in as the new Governor.