Imo House of Assembly Saga!

• Intrigues, Consequences
• The Uzodimma, Araraume Angles
• Imo People Divided

By Chuks Ofurum (Owerri)
Monday, November 8, 2021, witnessed the impeachment of the second Speaker of the 9th Imo State House of Assembly Rt. Hon. Paul Emeziem. Emeziem, APC, Onuimo State Constituency who, on November 5th, announced the impeachment of his deputy, Rt. Hon. Chyna Amara Iwuanyanwu, APC, Nwangele State Constituency, was impeached by 19 out of the 27 lawmakers. He has been replaced by Rt. Hon. Kennedy Ibe, APC, Obowo State Constituency. Emeziem’s ouster as Speaker is the second in the 9th Imo House of Assembly to be impeached.
Earlier in the year, Rt. Hon. Chiji Collins, APC, Isiala Mbano, was impeached for “Unparliamentary activities,” while the majority leader, Hon. Uche Ogbuagu, APC, Ikeduru State Constituency, was equally shown the door and replaced with Hon. Kanayo Onyemaechi, APC, Owerri West State Constituency. In between these impeachments, six members of the House were on July 8, 2021, suspended. They include, Hon. Uche Ogbuagu, APC, Ikeduru, Hon. Kennedy Ibe, APC, Obowo, Hon. Philip Ejiogu, PDP, Owerri North, Hon. Dominic Ezerioha, APC, Oru West, Hon. Anyadike Nwosu, PDP, Ezinihitte Mbaise, and Hon. Michael Brown Njoku, APC, Ihitte Uboma. The six suspended members were however recalled on November 2nd, the same day that the deputy Speaker, Hon. Iwuanyanwu was impeached. As at the time of writing this report, the House has yet to elect any substantive deputy Speaker fueling speculations that the deposed deputy Speaker, Hon. Iwuanyanwu may stage a comeback as he is alleged to have the ears of governor Hope Uzodinma. Meanwhile, the House under the new leadership of Rt. Hon. Kennedy Ibe has suspended three lawmakers. They are, Rt. Hon. Paul Emeziem, Onuimo, immediate Speaker, Hon. Ekene Nnodumele, Orsu, and Hon Okey Onyekama, Mbaitoli for alleged forgery of the signatures of members in the run-in to the impeachment of the deputy Speaker, Hon. Amara Chyna Iwuanyanwu.
Signs that all will not be well with the 9th Imo House of Assembly, started earlier in its inauguration in 2019 when the three major contending political parties, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Action Alliance, AA, and All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, could not claim a simple majority in the House. With the emergence of Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha of the PDP as the governor in the March 9th, 2019, Governorship election, the intrigues and horse trading began in earnest. PDP had only eleven (11) members mostly from Owerri Zone where Ihedioha comes from. Ihedioha’s main rivals, former governor and Senator representing Orlu Zone, Rochas Okorocha, Uche Nwosu, AA guber candidate, and Senator Ifeanyi Araraume, APGA Governorship candidate controlled the remaining sixteen (16) House members. However, with the Speaker position zoned to Okigwe Zone where PDP lacked any member, the first gale of defections took place. Rt. Hon.
Chiji Collins, APGA, Isiala Mbano, a strong ally of Senator Araraume, defected to PDP and was elected Speaker. He defected alongside other APGA members including Hon. Amara Chyna Iwuanyanwu, APGA, Nwangele, who later emerged as the Deputy Speaker. Their defections caused a stir as unsubstantiated allegations that Senator Araraume, the strongman of Okigwe politics, was either bought by the Ihedioha government, or was outrightly betrayed by his protegees.
The Supreme Court judgement of January 2020 however changed all permutations and set another tone of intrigues in the House. With the declaration of Senator Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressives Congress, APC as the winner, events took another dimension. There was a lacuna. APC had no member in the House. But the romance between Uzodinma, Okorocha/Nwosu and Araraume soon changed the pendulum. Members of the House embarked on another voyage of defections to APC. Twenty-one (21) out of the Twenty-seven (27) lawmakers defected en masse to APC, leaving PDP with only six (6) members. With this, the principal officers retained their seats. However, things took another twist when the romance between governor Uzodinma and his allies. Okorocha/Nwosu and Araraume, hit the rocks. There were allegations of betrayal and group loyalties and cleavages among the lawmakers.
Sensing danger, Governor Uzodinma went for the jugular of the House. As a result, the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Chiji Collins, APC, Isiala Mbano, was sacrificed. He was replaced with Rt. Hon. Paul Emeziem, APC, Onuimo. With the unfolding scenario, Governor Uzodinma moved swiftly to woo the lawmakers to his side. The Deputy Speaker, Hon. Iwuanyanwu became the arrowhead of this scheme. It was alleged that while Rt. Hon. Emeziem was the Speaker, the actual power rested on his deputy who actually called the shots. Rt. Hon. Iwuanyanwu was so powerful as to allegedly decree the suspension of his six colleagues on the grounds of “Unparliamentary activities”.
However, the suspension of the six lawmakers broke the camel’s back. It caused an irreparable damage to the unity and cohesion of the House. Old allegiances soon re-surfaced. Suspicion, back-stabbing and outright betrayals of colleagues soon engulfed the 9th Imo Assembly. And the unexpected happened. Speaker Emeziem allegedly orchestrated the impeachment of his deputy, Hon. Iwuanyanwu. But the impeachment of the deputy Speaker was soon interpreted by governor Uzodinma’s loyalists as targeting the Governor. The Speaker was then accused of being sponsored by a powerful party stalwart, to destabilize Uzodinma’s government. The Governor, who was in Abuja, was said to have summoned Speaker Emeziem and allegedly tongue-lashed him for removing his “buddy” without his (governor’s) notice or consent. There and then, the Governor allegedly gave Speaker Emeziem two options- to resign or be impeached. Emeziem refused both.
Meanwhile, while Speaker Emeziem was in Abuja, the machinery to remove him was set in motion. On returning, he was impeached first by six lawmakers which later increased to eighteen (18) members, supervised by his impeached deputy, Hon. Iwuanyanwu. Hon. Kennedy Ibeh, a lawyer and two-time House member from Obowo State Constituency, who contested under the platform of Action Alliance, AA, was elected as the third Speaker in the 9th Imo House of Assembly. He is alleged to be a close ally of Uche Nwosu, the AA Governorship candidate. As at the time of writing this report, the House has not elected a substantive deputy Speaker fueling speculations that Rt. Hon. Amara Chyna Iwuanyanwu, the governor’s ally will soon return to his former position.

Receiving members of the Imo State House of Assembly in government House, Owerri, governor Hope Uzodinma said what happened in the Imo State House of Assembly was victory for democracy and legislative lifestyle. Expressing his reverence to the principles of separation of powers between the executive and the legislature, Uzodinma urged the new Speaker to play up on the issues that will unite the House rather than those that will divide it. His words: “I urge you to play down those things that divide you and play up those factors that unite and make you stronger for the good of the people. Imo is greater than any personal interests and the Government is one, the synergy is important for the thorough development of the State.”
But while governor Uzodinma would attribute the 9th Imo House of Assembly Saga as the beauty of democracy, a former Special Adviser on Inter Party Affairs in Imo State, Chief Alan-B. Onyemaechi described the actions of the lawmakers as childish, ridiculous and a recipe for anarchy. According to him, the lawmakers were elected to produce good laws that will make the State better. He condemned the whole drama taking place in the State saying the lawmakers are casting aspersions on the hallowed chamber which is contrary to why they were elected.
A lecturer in the Imo State University and former Vice Chancellor Federal University of Technology Owerri, FUTO, Professor Jude Ejikeme Njoku, while describing the drama happening in the House of Assembly as nauseating blamed the citizens for electing immature lawmakers to superintend a sensitive democratic arm of the government. He said all over the developed democracy, impeachment of principal officers were carried out in a civilized manner that would not create any tension as has been witnessed in Imo State. He urged the lawmakers to go back to the drawing board to learn democratic principles and law making instead of stoking embers of disunity among the people. He described the impeachment as ridiculous, amateurish and legislative rascality.
But for Hon. Eddy Anyanwu, a chieftain of the opposition PDP, what is happening in the Imo House of Assembly is simply executive meddlesomeness which, according to him, is not good for democracy. He accused Governor Uzodinma of undue interference in the affairs of the legislature, asking him to focus his energy on offering good leadership to the people. Disagreeing with Hon. Eddy Anyanwu, a chieftain of the ruling APC in the State who is a former National Ex-officio member of PDP, Barr. Leo De Great Awazieama, heaped the blame on the impeached Speaker, Rt. Hon. Paul Emeziem, accusing him of playing to the gallery.
According to Barr. Awazieama, the former Speaker erred in not taking the Governor into confidence on whatever transpired in the House saying that, as the leader of the ruling party which has the majority lawmakers, the Governor should be aware of everything which affect the entire State. He mentioned the Democratic Party and the Republican Party in the United States where he stated that the executive works in synergy with the legislative arm of the government saying such can be replicated in the State. His words: “Governor Uzodinma as the leader of the party with the majority of House members must as a matter of duty, be informed of whatever that is happening in the House of Assembly which will affect the running of government. The legislators are elected to offer checks and balances on the executive, apart from their legislative duties. So, the two arms must work in synergy so that government policies and programmes can go on uninterrupted for the benefit of the entire State,”.
But to Mrs. Beatrice Anyaegbu, a trader in the main Ekeukwu market and Mr. Benson Igwe, a commercial bus operator, what is happening in the Imo State House of Assembly is simply the lack of focus of those they described as overfed legislators who do not know why they were elected in the first place. They urged the lawmakers to give peace a chance and focus on offering the people quality leadership.
Meanwhile political analysts have described the spate of impeachments in the House as a sad omen of what lies ahead. According to them, there is no guarantee that the new Speaker, Rt. Hon. Kennedy Ibeh will last the remaining two years, considering the fact that the House have been divided along primordial and party lines. They also believed that what is happening in the House is a foretaste of what will happen as the 2023 elections draws near. According to them, the battle for the soul of Imo State will be fought in the House of Assembly. The question agitating the minds of observers are, will Governor Uzodinma trust Rt. Hon. Kennedy Ibeh who is believed to be an ally of Uche Nwosu? Will Rt. Hon. Amara Iwuanyanwu regain his post as Deputy Speaker and continue his hold over the lawmakers? Will the Speaker exert his influence and authority? The days ahead will determine where the pendulum will swing.