SAM OBINNA IBE from Umuahia reports that Abia State House of Assembly has started on a wrong footing as it is enmeshed in supremacy battle between the Labour Party (LP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in their quest to control principal positions
It appears the Abia 8th House of Assembly has now adopted the popular home video title: “One Week, One Trouble,” if what is currently playing out in the assembly is anything to go by.
The crisis rocking Abia assembly is yet unabated, worsening by the day and requires urgent attention to nib it in the bud before it degenerates and then rocks the boat of legislative business of the second arm of government in the state.
Since the House resumed legislative sittings June this year following the emergence of a new political dispensation, the Abia State House of Assembly has been plagued with one crisis or the other instead of settling down to make laws for good governance which would ultimately benefit the citizenry.
Watchers of political happenings in the God’s Own State are wondering why it is so, why a House that ought to be united in making laws for good governance should be working at cross purposes.
They observed that Abia House of Assembly that was hitherto noted for working together in the past as one united entity is now a shadow of itself, as the agitation and counter agitation bordering on which party controls some key positions in the assembly is turning things apart as centre can no longer hold.
How it all started
Trouble first started with election of the Mr Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House, the outcome which did not go down well with members of the People Democratic Party (PDP) in the Abia assembly.
The climax of the bad blood was the election of other principal officers of the House, but PDP felt they should produce the Majority Leader, Chief Whip, and other positions, constitutionally assigned to the party with majority members.
But the Labour Party held a contrary view, insisting though they had 10 members but by their alliance with YPP which has two members and one member of All Progressives Congress (APC), they were able to form simple majority of 13 members as against PDP’s 11, therefore has the right to produce the principal officers of the House as the ruling party in the state.
Effects of crisis
This development gave rise to ongoing leadership tussle between LP and PDP members in the House forcing the Speaker, Rt Hon Emmanuel Emeruwa, to sometimes adjourn sittings abruptly in order to restore sanity.
However, with continued agitations of PDP members to produce the Majority Leader and other positions citing House rules and the provisions of Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria, all to no avail, the embattled PDP members in the House have now instituted a 90 days pre action notice for Rt Hon Emmanuel Emeruwa led Abia House to do the right thing or face legal action.
The scenario has worsened given the extreme positions of the gladiators in both parties who are not ready to shift grounds over the quagmire, resulting in Abia assembly becoming a house of commotion rather than the house of honourable members it ought to be.
Concerns
Meanwhile, concerned Abia citizens and residents alike are worried over the unfolding drama at Assembly wondering when the current crisis currently rocking the Abia Assembly would be resolved amicably.
They contend that rather than settling down for serious legislative business,the crisis is yet to be over.If there is anything, that it is being worsened by the day.
Crisis degenerates
Last Tuesday, the Speaker, Abia House of Assembly, Rt Hon Emeruwa, during plenary announced the suspension of Hon Solomon Akpulonu, the immediate past Majority Leader of the 7th House of Assembly, who is currently representing, Obingwa East in the 8th Abia House of Assembly for 14 legislative sittings.
Abia Speaker accused the suspended member of conducting himself in a manner that disturbed the peaceful House as well as granting press interviews without approval from him.
He also said that suspended PDP Caucus leader acted contrary to the legislative norms and, therefore, he could no longer fold his hands and watch him rock the boat through disruptive behaviour.
Akpulonu counters
But a swift reaction, Hon Barrister Akpulonu, the member representing Obingwa East state constituency, said that Mr Speaker lacks the legislative power to suspend him from the House for 14 sittings without following the due procedures.
According to him, to suspend him, there must be a motion before the House and seconded by another member, and he should have given an opportunity of fair hearing to defend himself, these legislative processes were not followed, wondering the reason why the Speaker would single handedly suspend him without any motion or complaint against him.
The Obingwa East representative said “as an experienced lawmaker and a lawyer, who knows his right, that I cannot be intimidated by anybody once I’m acting within the confines of the law.”
Akpulonu, however, vowed: “I cannot to be intimidated by anyone in the course of doing the right thing as the leader of the PDP Caucus in the 8th Assembly; if Mr Speaker can be allowed to suspend any member without due process, it means that one day, he can wake up from sleep and say he has suspended all members of the house.
“There are more to the suspension that meet the eyes. The issue is becoming personal, I was not the only one who granted press interviews, Honourables Gordi Adiele, Emmanuel Ndubuisi, Ochaeke including Hon Ugochukwu Mmeregini, the Deputy Speaker, among others, all granted interviews to the press without any punitive measures meted out against them. Let me assure my constituents and every Abian that I can never be cowed in my quest for the right thing to be done as the leader of PDP Caucus in the house,” the PDP lawmaker countered.
The outside view
But reacting over the happenings in the Abia House of Assembly, the state chairman of Labour party, Hon Ceekay Igara said the Abia House of Assembly acted in good faith in order to restore discipline among members, lambasted the member representing Obingwa East for what he regarded as an unruly behavior noting that it is not for nothing that elected lawmakers are called Honourable members.
Abia LP state chairman told our correspondent in telephone interview, “the suspension slammed on Hon Solomon Akpulonu was in order, the Abia House of Assembly is a House of honourable members, not a house of commotions as the PDP member wanted to turn it into.”
The LP chairman further said, “it was on record that the suspended member had on more than two occasions disrupted the legislative business on the floor of the House; the suspension is to serve as a deterrent to others who may want to tread that path.
“An honourable member should be seen as one who depicts good conduct, respect for constituted authority, and and not to behave in a manner that portrays one as a motor park tout.”
When reminded that the suspended PDP member was agitating for the right of his party to produce the Majority Leader and other positions as the party that won the majority seats of 11 while Labour secured 10 seats, the Labour Party state chairman disagreed and said “who told them they have majority,? If they have majority, why didn’t they produce the Speaker and Deputy Speaker respectively?
“The same process his party LP used to elect Mr Speaker and Deputy Speaker was also the process adopted in electing Majority Leader, Chief Whip, etc. With 10 members, LP formed alliance with YPP that had 2 members, APC 1 member making it 13 members against 10 of PDP to form simple majority.”
Need for a ceasefire
No matter how one looks at the whole scenario as it is unfolding by the day, a ceasefire should be the watch word of the dramatis personae, granted that a house divided against itself cannot stand.
The majority of the Abians are of the opinion that the State House of Assembly should mend fences, quickly too, to resolve this leadership crisis so that collectively, the lawmakers can settle down to legislative business for good governance which the people are earnestly yearning for under the present leadership in the state.
