In addition to the first spokesperson, Dr. Chiji Collins, head of the All Progressives Congress (APC) representing the Onuimo constituency, who went through normal legislative processes to emerge as spokesperson in June 2019, two other members who held the seat were elected and charged without observing the rules. of the house.
Collins took office during the brief People’s Democratic Party (PDP) administration of Emeka Ihedioha, who was removed from office by the Supreme Court. It was widely believed that Ihedioha contributed significantly to Collins’s enthronement as a speaker. So, with the departure of Ihedioha, Collins’s fate was decided.
The top elective positions in the state, such as governor, lieutenant governor, and president, are shared by the three senatorial districts: Imo East (Owerri), Imo North (Okigwe), and Imo West (Orlu). Where the governor comes from determines who holds other seats. With that arrangement, the governor and the president cannot come from the same area.
Currently, Governor Hope Uzodimma hails from Orlu (Imo West), while his deputy Amara Iwuanyanwu is from the Owerri area. The expectation is that Imo North (Okigwe) will produce the Speaker.
When the supreme court declared Uzodimma the legitimate elected governor of the state on January 14, Collins was indicted because he came from the same senatorial district as the new helmsman.
With the development, the immediate past president, Paul Emeziem (APC, Onuimo constituency), was re-elected to preside over the House. His tenure witnessed an arrogance that almost caused the Assembly to catch fire. His colleagues rose up against him and removed the rug from his feat.
The accusation against Emeziem was like a coup, executed very early in the morning. Lawmakers arrived early at the Temporary Chamber at the Ojukwu Center without Emeziem to begin the day’s business. When he learned of the session being held in the Assembly, he was quick to join his colleagues, but to his greatest surprise, the security men who were staring at the door prevented him from entering the Assembly.
While Emeziem was still making calls to find out who instructed the security men to exclude him from the Assembly, news leaked that Kennedy Ibeh (APC, Obowo Electoral District), a lawyer and second-term rank member, had been installed as Spokesperson with the support of 19 legislators. who signed the document.
A different thing the legislators did was avoid the temporary plenary seat, which they had recently used for legislative proceedings due to ongoing repairs to both the permanent site and the temporary legislative house at the Ojukwu Center, Owerri.
Dr Uju Onwudiwe, a member representing the Njaba constituency and other sources, revealed that on the Sunday before Emeziem’s impeachment, the House Clerk was ordered to send invitations to all members to attend the session. But those in attendance had an executive meeting after which Onwudiwe was asked to act as temporary Spokesperson, while other members present queued as they entered the venue. Journalists were prohibited from covering the process.
It was said that a motion was made that the vice president, Amara Iwuanyanwu, not be charged after confirmation by the secretary that there was no record of his indictment. The retired members also denied having signed any documents to remove Iwuanyanwu, as mentioned in the list submitted by Emeziem. Then Iwuanyanwu was asked to take the presiding seat. It was after he reclaimed his seat as vice president that 19 of the 27 members who signed his impeachment document executed the appropriate motion for Emeziem’s impeachment. Throughout the entire period of the impeachment process, Emezieme was out of the gate allegedly having an altercation with security men when they removed the rug from his exploit.
Supporters of Emeziem’s impeachment were found to include Kanayo Onyemaehi (Owerri West), Arthur Egwin (Ideato North), Duru I. Johnson (Ideato South), Kennedy Ibeh (Obowo), Micheal Crown Njoku (Ihitte-Uboma) , Emeka Nduka. (Ehime Mbano) and Prince Obinna Okwara (Nkwere).
Others are, Chigozie Nwaneri (Oru East), Dominic Ezerioha (Oru West), Okoro Cyracious (Ohaji / Egbema), Frank Ugbomma (Oguta), Uju Onwudiwe (Njaba), Uche Ogbuagu (Ikeduru), Chiji Collins (Isiala Mbano) and Eddy Obinna (Aboh Mbaise).
Others include, Anyadike Nwosu (Ezinihitte Mbaise), Ngozi Obiefule (Ịsụ), Otuibe Samuel (Ahiazu Mbaise) and the reinstated Vice President, Amara Chyna Iwuanyanwu (Nwangele).
Immediately after the change of leadership in the Assembly, the group led by Ibeh drove in convoy to Uzodimma in the Government House, Owerri, where the governor urged them to carry out their functions in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and the rules of the Camera.
Before Emeziem was removed, he seemed not to have realized that he should have resigned when most of his colleagues were already working against him. He was accused of taking some actions against the interests of his colleagues. Part of his sins was the suspension of six members who were allegedly active in the House and the impeachment of their deputy. The signs of what was about to happen to him were ominous for any politician to decipher, but Emezien seemed to have no premonition of his dismissal, as happened to his former MP, Iwuanyanwu, on November 2, when he was removed without due process. process. Iwuanyanwu was said to be a political ally of Uzodimma, whose allies had boasted that his House indictment would be overturned.
Some members are still expressing shock at Emeziem’s blatant disregard for House rules in the way he removed his deputy. On November 2, the member representing the Orsu constituency, Ekene Nnodumele, delivered a document to Emeziem during plenary. The document was later discovered to contain a list of 18 members, including the six so far suspended members of the Assembly who allegedly supported the removal of Iwuanyanwu as vice president. The list includes Dominic Ezerioha (APC Oru West), Uche Ogbuagu (APC Ikeduru), Philip Ejiogu (PDP Owerri North), Anyadike Nwosu (PDP Ezinihitte), Kennedy Ibeh (APC Obowo) and Michael Njoku (APC Ihitte Uboma).
Emeziem received the list from Nnodumele and without presenting it for deliberation; struck with the mallet, signifying the accusation of Iwuanyanwu.
It also did not specify the crime of six deputies who were suspended on July 8, because Emeziem only accused them of “non-parliamentary conduct.” One of the suspended members included former House Majority Leader Ogbuagu, who defected from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to APC. He was removed earlier in the year and Kanayo Amaechi (APC, Owerri West) replaced him.
Some of the legislators suspended in their reactions to the development in a statement said: “We, the four members of the APC extraction of the Imo State House of Assembly who were suspended on July 8, 2021 by President Paul Emeziem , we wish to clearly disassociate ourselves and our firms from any action including, but not limited to, the alleged impeachment of Rt. Hon. Amarachi Chyna Iwuanyanwu, Vice President.
“This fundamental statement comes from the information we have that our names and signatures appear on the documents that President Paul Emeziem exhibits as evidence of 18 signatories.
“We affirm unequivocally that we were unjustly suspended, fortunate to be reinstated after about four months, but we have yet to resume office talk less than participating in any form of parliamentary activities.”
Furthermore, Iwuanyanwu’s relatives threw out the impeachment and promised that it would not stand.
A statement issued by FM Dikeukwu reads: “We, the good folks of the Federal District of Nkwerre, Isu, Njaba and Nwangele have rudely received the attempt by an undemocratic group in Imo state to remove the vice president. Unfortunately, the action failed as the planners were unable to place a replacement because they were acting on the wrong basis.
“We wish to tell our people that this action, which is dead upon arrival, is directed at the Governor of Imo State and therefore will not be sustained. We ask our people to remain calm while efforts are made to return the situation to normal. ”
Two other groups, Imo Democratic Assembly and Save Imo, represented by Georgina Ibezim, and Ebubeagu Ekenulo, respectively accused the president of not following the legislative processes to impeach Iwuanyanwu.
But former state Information and Strategy commissioner and social commentator Elvis Agukwe said that the change of baton was normal in a democratic process, insisting that, “throughout the world, legislative chambers at both the state and national levels are chaotic. Imo is never alone in this. Supporters and supporters must allow our democracy to develop. It is the best choice for us.
“Other governors have conducted legislative business in the government house or in a private residence. But Governor Uzodimma, a former legislator, has refused to dabble in the internal affairs of the Imo Legislative Assembly. Political sentiments or considerations should not guide our legislature. They must be allowed to arrange their internal affairs by themselves, people must desist from interfering. ”
After their impeachment, Emeziem, a member representing the Mbaitolu constituency, Okey Onyekanma (PDP) and Nnodumele were suspended indefinitely. Emeziem was suspended for alleged forgery, abuse of power, detriment and “non-parliamentary” conduct.
Onyekanma, who hails from Imo East, the House Vice Speaker immediately resigned Ihedioha was removed from office last year.
The president appointed a five-member committee to investigate the suspended president and others. Committee members include Kanayo Onyemaehi (Owerri West), (President); Frank Ugboma (Oguta), vice president; Duru Johnson (Ideato South), Emeka Nduka (Ehime Mbano) and Chigozie Nwaneri (Oru East) as members.
All the standing committees that were dissolved by the Speaker have yet to be reconstituted.
While Ibeh has vowed to regain the House’s lost glory, honor and dignity, his predecessor, Emeziem, who is suspended, has vowed to be loyal to the new House leadership.The accused president said: “Despite what must have happened, the general interest of Imo State is paramount to me. Therefore, the most important thing on my mind now is to remain an agent and advocate for a better Imo. I sincerely thank our Governor, Uzodimma, for his love, support and the trust placed in me, which greatly contributed to my emergence as the Speaker of the IOM Assembly in the first place. I owe him my continued and full loyalty and support.
“I also want to apologize to anyone who has stepped on your toes in the course of performing my duties as Speaker and I firmly believe that together, leaving the past behind, we will achieve a better and more prosperous Imo of our collective dream. ”.
Uzodimma also held a closed-door meeting with the duo two days after the baton change. The trio also took photos together to express their determination for peace in the Chamber.
Since the recent development in the Chamber, indigenous people and neighbors hope to see an end to the instability in the Chamber, relying on the new leadership and other members of the Assembly to settle down and carry out their legislative work.
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