From Okey Sampson, Aba
It was drama like never before and had all the trappings of Israel’s dramatic “90 Minutes at Entebe.” For many, what happened over the weekend at the Abia assembly, was a supersonic drama all rolled in one and the dramatis personae were members of the House themselves.
At the end of the amateurish and mirthful drama which lasted for less than 24 hours, the House like Usain Bolt, set a new record in the world’s political firmament by not only having three Speakers in less than 24 hours, but also producing the shortest reign of any Speaker in the history of Nigerian politics in the person of Mr. Kennedy Njoku (from 4.10pm on Thursday when he was sworn-in to 2.50pm on Friday when he resigned). So, he was Speaker for 22hours, 40minutes; what a way of making history.
The drama which was said to have began surreptitiously over the period came to the fore on Wednesday, December 28, 2016 when Daily Sun exclusively reported about the plot to impeach the former Speaker, Martins Azubuike who had before then allegedly survived five impeachment attempts.
Although those who hatched the plot to impeach Azubuike, accused him of financial delinquency and despotic leadership, but one of his aides debunked that allegation, insisting that his boss was being shoved aside to pave way for the son of a former governor of the state to become the Speaker in line with a pre election agreement. For the aide, former Mr. Speaker was guiltless.
Investigation revealed that Azubuike who felt he did not commit any offence to merit his impeachment, ran to some political leaders of the Ukwa/Ngwa bloc, believing they will save the day for him.
Further investigations revealed that as a result of the complaint lodged by the ousted Speaker, political leaders from Ukwa/Ngwa area rallied round their sons in government who in turn caused the House of Assembly to shift its sitting from Wednesday (when the former Speaker would have been impeached) to Friday by which time the matter which led to his removal would have been resolved amicably. But the House which was on Christmas break instead reconvened on Thursday, a day short of the agreed date and before one could pronounce Jack, Azubuike had been impeached by 20 out of the 24 members and replaced with the member representing Osisioma Ngwa North state constituency, Hon Kennedy Njoku.
According to one of those who were on the mediation team, “By the time we got to hear about the impeachment, it was already done, otherwise we could have stopped it because it is not in our interest”.
Azubuike’s impeachment did not go down well with some leaders of the Ukwa/Ngwa nation who believed that there was an unveiling political scenario that was yet to come out with the House members’ action.
Moses Ogbonna who is the Chairman of Nzuko Ohaneze Ndi Ukwa/Ngwa and the state organizing secretary of PDP, had this to say. “We as Ukwa/Ngwa people are not happy that any of our members for whatever reason can be impeached in the manner the former Speaker was impeached. So, when we find out what happened, we will know what steps to take.
“The House was to sit on Wednesday for the impeachment, but with the intervention of some political leaders, the sitting was shifted to Friday so that the issues that led to the impeachment could be resolved amicably, but the House instead sat on Thursday and removed the Speaker.
“Anybody who is an Ukwa/Ngwa person who is the mastermind of the impeachment would be invited and he has to explain why, and if there is no genuine reason, we will not take it kindly with that person”.
Ogbonna said his people were not in anyway placated by the fact that someone from Osisioma Ngwa was then chosen as the new Speaker, stating that that was a political contrive, trying to rob Peter to pay Paul.
“The Ukwa/Ngwa people feel it is a divide and conquer approach and we are going to resist it because nobody can divide Ukwa/Ngwa people”.
Threats like this and pressure said to have been mounted on the new Speaker by some political leaders in the area including senior government officials made Njoku to capitulate and the drama took a novel and interesting turn. The new Speaker who had less than 24 hours earlier promised to carry his colleagues along while accepting the leadership of the House, sang a different tune as he resigned, citing personal reason and earning himself a world record as the shortest serving Speaker.
Immediately after his resignation at about 2.50pm on Friday, the Clerk of the House, Mr. John-Pedro Irokansi called for election of a new Speaker to avoid leadership vacuum.
The member representing Umuahia East constituency, Chukwudi Apugo nominated Mr. Chikwendu Kalu, member representing Isialangwa South and was seconded by Ifeanyi Uchendu, representing Ohafia South. Kalu was elected by consensus and subsequently sworn in as the 10th Speaker of the House.
Kalu’s choice was seen as a deft move to placate the Isialangwa axis of the Ngwa bloc. By the impeachment of Azubuike, a son of the soil and replacing him with Njoku from Osisioma, the people felt short changed, more so since by extension Osisioma which shares the same federal constituency with Obingwa and Ugwunagbo Local Governments had already produced the state governor and senator representing Abia South senatorial zone. Whether this has been effectively done remained to be seen in the days ahead.
For some political pundits in the state, this gale of changes in the top most seat in the House has a direction it is heading toward and they believe it can only discontinue when it reaches its destination. Well, as they say; only time will tell.