From the outset of the current Ninth Session of the Imo State House of Assembly in 2019, ordinarily Rt. Hon. Kennedy Ibeh ought to be the speaker. He was one of the two ranking members from Okigwe zone where the position of speaker was retained.
The other member was Rt. Hon Collins Chiji who currently represents Isiala Mbano state constituency. In a saner clime, Kennedy Ibeh was supposed to be sworn in or inaugurated as the Speaker in June, 2019 having been the most ranking or longest serving legislator from Imo North Senatorial district out of the six lawmakers from the zone. He became a member of the House before former Speaker Collins Chiji. He was reportedly a councilor some years back. He is also said to be a legal practitioner.
From the foregoing antecedent and pedigree, it was therefore shocking to many Imolites when he lost the seat of the Speaker to Collins Chiji. Reliable sources opined that Kennedy Ibeh’s association or affiliation with the political family of former Governor Rochas Okorocha was one of the reasons the then establishment in the state led by former Governor Emeka Ihedioha denied him the position.
Former Speaker Chiji Collins was said to have being compensated with the position against Kennedy Ibeh because he (Chiji Collins) didn’t participate in aiding and abetting in most of the apparent lawlessness that dogged the regime of former Governor Okorocha. It would also be recalled that Chiji Collins was also suspended for some months during the regime of Okorocha. Therefore, Kennedy Ibeh who was more experienced in legislative matters was sidelined in preference to Chiji Collins.
When Chiji Collins lost the position, Kennedy Ibeh was yet again denied the position as the establishment and powers-that-be preferred a first-timer and a “Pharmacist”, Rt.Hon. Paul Emeziem to prescribe legislative laws for Imo state. It didn’t take long for Speaker Emeziem to be swept away by the banana peels littering the floors of the House. That was how Hon Kennedy Ibeh became the speaker of the House since November last year.
One must admit that there’s an obvious paradigm shift in the House since Hon. Kennedy Ibeh took over the leadership of the House. In less than a year as speaker, he has shown strong and effective leadership. The decrepit and abandoned Imo State House of Assembly has been undergoing solid and serious renovation since Ibeh took over the leadership. Perhaps, apart from late Speaker Benjamin Uwajumogu, Speaker Kennedy Ibeh appears to be the most efficient speaker from Okigwe zone since the advent of the fourth republic democratic dispensation in 199. His above average performance in less than year is not surprising to most Imolites because he came prepared for the job, both academically and psychologically.
However, Speaker Kennedy Ibeh appears to be turning into a tyrant with his latest action against his fellow members. His recent declaration of the seat of the member representing Nkwerre state constituency, Hon. Obinna Okwara, as vacant was tyrannical and vindictive. The speaker appears to be applying extreme measures in dealing with those who had offended him in the parts and those who may offend him now and in the future.
Granted that the Nigerian constitution ostensibly grants presiding officers the power to declare the seats of their colleagues vacant but that power should be exercised in exceptional cases. When Speaker Ibeh declared the seat of Ngor-Okpalla vacant, nobody questioned his motives or authority to have done so. The then member of the Ngor-Okpalla state constituency didn’t meet up with the required number of legislative attendance or sitting for three consecutive years. Even till now, no one has heard from the former legislator.
Some people insinuated that he Hon. Tochi Okereke, was so angry and disenchanted with the system for removing his cousin, former Governor Ihedioha as governor, and that was why he became so annoyed with everybody and abandoned the Ngor-Okpalla mandate. If that insinuation or rumour was true about Tochi Okereke, it then means that he was literally dragged into politics to contest for the House of Assembly seat. He was not inebriated for the position because I do not understand why an adult could abandoned his own mandate just because his cousin lost a governorship position. Every man or woman on earth has his/her own ambition and mission to fulfill in life.
Therefore, Kennedy Ibeh acted within the ambits of the law and justifiable so to have declared the Ngor-Okpalla seat vacant. Ngor-Okpalla people have a new lawmaker now who will complete the remaining tenure left by Tochi Okereke. Having said that, Speaker Ibeh was morally wrong to have declared the seat of a suspended member Hon. Obinna Okwara vacant.
Were the cases of Hon. Obinna Okwara and Hon. Tochi Okereke the same? Definitely, NO. if Ibeh declared the seat of Obinna Okwara vacant on the promise of defection to another political party, did Obinna Okwara himself announce the defection on the floor of the House or the speaker acted based on hearsay? Even if Hon Okwara did that on the floor of the House, what moral justification made the speaker to declare his seat vacant when he (the speaker himself) had committed same offence severally?
Defections happen in the National Assembly almost on monthly basis and I dare say that no Speaker of the House of Representatives or the Senate President had ever declared the seat of a colleague vacant on the ground of defection to another political party since Nigeria’s independence in 1960. One may count few states where it had happened based strictly on vendetta of the presiding officers, but not a single such declaration had happened at the National Assembly. Such matters should be left for the court to decide just like in the case of Ebonyi state lawmakers at the Appeal Court.
By the way, activities for 2023 general elections have commenced. More defections are bound to happen even in the Imo State House of Assembly. Now, if a serving lawmaker in Imo state House of Assembly is denied a return ticket by his/her political party or that member wants to go higher to the National Assembly, and the party denies him/her a ticket, is the Speaker implying that the affected member must never look for alternative platform to realize his/her ambition? Nigeria has over a dozen of political parties scouting for candidates for the 2023 general elections.
Is the Imo speaker saying that a member does not have the constitution right or liberty to take up the ticket of another party if his/her current party refuses to make him/her the candidate? Speaker Kennedy Ibeh acted too hastily in declaring Nkwerre state constituency vacant perhaps out of malice or bottled-up anger against the member. How does he handle the situation when his friendly colleagues defect to other parties to realise their ambition as the 2023 general elections approach?
Speaker Ibeh is not infallible because he’s not God Almighty. He’s a human being who’s bound to make mistakes just like all mortals. He can still ameliorate the situation by reversing the action after all the House recently reversed the impeachment of former speaker Chiji Collins to resignation. There’s no shame in one taming his ego and retracing his steps when he realises his mistakes.
Speaker Kennedy Ibeh should understand that nothing is cast in stone forever. There’s no ossified guarantee that he would return as the speaker of the tenth session of the Imo State House of Assembly even if he wins a re-election back to the House. He should realise that presiding officers of the House are usually at the behest of the executive. Nothing is cast in stone that he will finish this present tenure as the Speaker or that he will continue as Speaker in the 10th assembly.
In conclusion, he should realize that the position of a speaker is just first among equals. No member comes to the House as speaker and every member is eligible for the position. The honourable member representing Ehime Mbano state constituency Hon. Emeka Nduka, has not tasted the pie. We should not forget that he’s the only original APC member elected into the House among this set of lawmakers. The governor can wake up tomorrow and decides that he no longer likes the face of the current speaker. Speaker Kennedy Ibeh should not forget that the table can turn in future against him. What if a future speaker sends him packing from the House on ground of one frivolous excuse or the other?
Maduako writes from Owerri, Imo state via 08061562735)
