From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
In June, the 8th Abia House of Assembly would be inaugurated. Since the advent of the present political dispensation, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which has remained the ruling party in the state in the last 24 years, has always produced the Speaker of the House, having always had overwhelming majority of members of the 24-member House since then.
However, many political observers believe that the scenario is likely to change this time. Barring any last minute political horse-trading, PDP may not produce the Speaker of the next Assembly.
Reason? Although PDP has the simple majority of elected members, it does not like in the past, boast of the overall majority. This has not only brought an undaunted task for it, but also put the party in a disadvantaged position.
After the declaration of the governorship and House of Assembly election results held in Abia on March 18, PDP came out tops with 11 seats, Labour Party (LP), (which will become the ruling party in the state come May 29), followed with 10 seats, Young People’s Party (YPP) and All Progressives Congress (APC), having two and one seats respectively.
Going by the Law to an extent, and simple Arithmetic equation, PDP would be good to go, but that will not come easy, if at all it would. Reason being that a Labour Party Government in Abia was not likely to allow a PDP member to preside over the affairs of the state legislature, not when it (LP) can form alliance with YPP and APC at that level to torpedo whatever PDP would be coming up with.
There are indications that such alliance could not be difficult to be achieved. Already, a group of YPP House of Assembly candidates in the last election under the aegis of Abia Restoration Alliance (ABRA), have congratulated Otti and pledged to support him just like the governorship candidate of the party, Nana Nwafor.
“ABRA joins Abians at home and in the Diaspora to thank God for His intervention in Abia through the emergence of Dr. Alex Otti as Governor-elect elect of the state.
“The emergence of a Governor-elect from one of the opposition parties, hitherto tagged “Umu Aghirigha Party” by the PDP, is all that God needed to liberate the state from the quagmire of inept leadership.
“For the first time in the history of our state, we witnessed a victory that was celebrated in the 17 Local Governments of the state by the common folks”, the group noted.
The alibi for LP in this direction is that all her 10 elected members are first timers. However, some people are of the view that since there was no Constitutional provision preventing a first timer from becoming principal officer of the House, LP would have no problem producing the Speaker provided it plays its card well with the two other opposition parties in the House.
An opinion analyst in the state added vein to this when he said, “The next Abia Speaker should be a fresh House of Assembly member, new members are 20 in number and old members are only four. Therefore, there is no way four acute minority and opposition minority will produce Speaker.
“Since Abia is going to have a new government come May 29, it will be nice for a new member to be the Speaker; the new members have not been contaminated, they are fresh and clean. It will be necessary for Labour Party to produce the Speaker, it will give room for smooth sailing in Abia State House of Assembly and the state as a whole”, he said.
He urged members of other parties to close ranks for an LP member to be the Speaker.
Indications are pointing to the fact that LP may have zoned the Speakership of the House to Abia South and the deputy Speakership to Abia Central.
A chieftain of the party in the state confided in this reporter that the zoning arrangement was based on the premise that the Governor-elect, Dr. Alex Otti contested the election on the crest of Abia Central, Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area, to be precise.
Going by this arrangement, four candidates are said to be jostling for the position from Abia South. They are, Solomon Akpulonu, Erondu Uchenna Erondu, Emmanuel Emeruwa and Destiny Akaraka Nwagwu.
Solomon Akpulonu:
If the number of years one has stayed in the House would be a criterion to clinch the Speakership position, nobody would contest it with Akpulonu, the PDP member representing Obingwa East State Constituency as he has been elected into the House for the 5th time.
Akpulonu used it as a campaign strategy during the electioneering to the fact that if he was re-elected, as an oldest member, his becoming the Speaker was as sure as death.
What may be going against Akpulonu is that apart from being a PDP member, he is from the same Local Government Area with the out-going Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu.
Erondu Uchenna Erondu:
Erondu is the Special Adviser to Governor Ikpeazu on Special duties and the member-elect, Obingwa west state constituency in the Abia state House of Assembly.
Among Ikpeazu’s aides, including Commissioners, Erondu was seen as the closest to the governor. This closeness to Ikpeazu, made Erondu to be seen as the next Speaker of Abia House, even before elections of 2023, despite the fact he is a first timer.
However, with the present turn of events, Erondu’s dream of becoming the Speaker of the 8th Abia House of Assembly may become a mirage as LP is said to have vowed that none of that will happen.
Emmanuel Emeruwa:
A former Chairman of Aba South LGA, Emereuwa was a member of PDP before defecting to LP where he contested the last election and won to represent Aba Central state constituency.
Emeruwa’s ambition is said to be boosted by some stakeholders in the party, who see him as a loyal party man. He is said to have reached out to many party bigwigs over the project.
Destiny Akaraka Nwagwu:
The odds favour this child of destiny. Nwagwu who is going to represent Aba North state constituency as a first timer, is said to be closer to Otti more than any other aspirant.
He has journeyed together with the Governor-elect in all the parties he has been to, contesting the same position. In fact, Nwagwu is said to have the blessings of Otti and the odds strongly favour him.
As the battle for Abia Speaker is on the front burner, that of the deputy Speaker is also raging. Although it appears the LP had zoned the position to Abia Central and a ranking member from Abia North is also said to be eyeing the seat.
Three candidates are presently said to be battling for the deputy speakership position; two from Labour Party and one from PDP.
The PDP member-elect who is going for the third time, Mandela Egwuruonu Obasi, is from Abiriba in Ohafia LGA and representing Ohafia North state Constituency.
A former Transition Committee Chairman of Ohafia LGA and the Chairman of Evergreen Hotels and South Asia Hotels, Obasi would have banked on his returning colleagues to clinch the seat, but only four of them are returning, a number too infinitesimal to see him through.
Another serious setback for Obasi, though a ranking member, is the fact that the deputy Governor-elect, Ikechukwu Emetu is from the same Local Government with him and it will be difficult for a state that believes in equity (although PDP jettisoned the Abia Charter of Equity in the last election), to have the deputy governor and deputy Speaker from the same area.
Emeka Jacob Obioma:
A younger brother of Hon Iheanacho Obioma, the Director General of Dr Alex Otti Campaign Organization (Chomen).
Elected on the platform of the Labour Party, the younger Obioma is relatively unknown in Abia politics, but seriously in the race for deputy Speakership position.
What is going for him is his elder brother’s closeness to Otti which may work in his favour. Again, what may work against him is also his brother, CHOMEN. As the DG of Otti’s campaign, some people are saying he wants to be compensated with the post of Chief of Staff to the Governor or Secretary to the State Government (SSG).
If this comes to be, it may likely lay a stumbling block on the path of his ambition. Already, some party chieftains are saying there is no way CHOMEN will emerge as the SSG or Chief of staff to the governor, and his younger brother becomes the deputy Speaker.
Austin Nmeregini:
Nmeregini is from Umuana Ndume Ibeku, and was elected on the platform of the Labour Party. He was unsuccessful in 2019 when he contested under APC.
A known supporter of Otti, this and support from critical stakeholders of the party in the state, may earn him the seat.
Whichever party and zones that would clinch the two coveted seats in the House, would be known by June.