Drama as Imo deputy speaker resigns, nine lawmakers defect to APC

Okey Onyekanma, deputy speaker of the Imo state House of Assembly, on Tuesday, January 21, resigned his position.

Onyekanma announced his resignation in a letter read by the speaker of the House, Chiji Collins, during plenary on at the legislative chamber of the Assembly Complex in Owerri, the state capital.

The Herald gathered that he informed his colleagues that he has also resigned as the Chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Business.

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In the letter, Onyekanma said he took the decision to resign due to the zoning arrangement in the state.

According to him, the plan gives the seat of the deputy speaker to a lawmaker from the same zone with the governor and considering the new leadership in the state, he is not from the same zone with the state governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma.

Also, nine members of the House have announced their defection from their respective political parties to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The lawmakers were former members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Action Alliance (AA), and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

They include Authur Egwim (from AA), Chyna Iwuanyanwu (from PDP), Chidiebere Ogbunikpa (from PDP), and Obinna Okwara (from AA).

Others are Paul Emeziem (from PDP), Ekene Nnodimele (from APGA), Johnson Duru (from AA), Ngozi Obiefule (from AA), and Heclus Okoro (from PDP).

One of the defected lawmakers, Nnodimele, had resigned his position as the Minority Leader in the House before joining the ruling APC.

Earlier, The Herald reported that the Supreme Court has struck out an appeal filed against Emeka Ihedioha as Imo state Governor. The appeal which was filed by Uche Nwosu of the Action Alliance (AA) has been struck out.

Supreme court struck out the appeal on Uche Nwosu’s oral request through Solomon Umoh (SAN), his legal counsel.

The election victory of Emeka Ihedioha on Feb 19, 2019 gubernatorial poll has been challenged by Nwosu and 2 other candidates.

The candidates who have approached the court seeking the nullification to the Guber poll allege Ihedioha won through scrupulous means as the election was marred with electoral malpractices.