Rt.Hon.Chinedum Orji Valedictory session
The assertions made by the Impeached Speaker of the 7th Assembly Rt.Hon Chinedum Orji that the Executive orchestrated his failed impeachment has been greeted with disdain as the former Deputy Speaker Rt.Hon.Ifeanyi Uchendu exonorates the executive.
Uchendu who had a virtual interaction with newsmen while reacting to the concocted Valedictory Session held by former Speaker Chinedum Orji in the house with Four Members , maintained that the former speaker couldn’t convey a Valedictory session for 7th members of his faction in the Abia State House Assembly because he has lost the loyalty and cooperation of the members while the other faction whose Speaker is Rt.Hon Chukwudi Apugo had a successful Valedictory session forming the quorum of ,Nine members.
Uchendu noted that the former Speaker’s attempt to lure Four members loyal to him to hold a Valedictory session in the State Assembly Complex failed to materialize as that resulted in his decision to hold it at his residence in order to save himself the ridicule of presiding alone.
“You’ll agree with me that the former speaker couldn’t convey a Valedictory session because he has lost the loyalty and cooperation of members of the State Assembly”.
“If you watch the Valedictory session of Ebonyi and other States on Channels TV,AIT and other Radio Stations You’ll agree with me that the former speaker did not hold a Valedictory session”.
“Yesterday our own group had our Valedictory Session because we were not ready to back out without the ceremonial Valedictory Session at the end of each House”.
He attributed the crisis that rocked the State House of Assembly to the high handedness of Chinedum Orji whom he said grossly abused his office as Speaker by not providing enabling grounds for the law-makers to carry out their legislative functions effectively.
The Speaker was said to be running a one man show to the discomfort of members who felt his autocratic nature and usurping powers on his own without due considerations was overbearing,
hence the reason behind his impeachment.
He further added that the house was supposed to seat at least 182 times in a calendar year but that did not happen in the case of Chinedum Orji.
The former speaker was said to have deprived the House from meeting it’s target due to inability to convene plenary as expected.
He said the 7th Assembly under the leadership of Chinedum Orji couldn’t achieve much because of the former speaker’s high-handedness which affected the progress of the Assembly.
He also noted that they accomplished so much together because of the collective contribution of the members.
Recall that the State Assembly last month was drawn into Leadership crisis following the impeachment of the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Chinedum Orji (Umuahia Central) and his replacement with Hon. Chukwudi Apugo (Umuahia East).
The Speaker in turn convened a sitting with about 8 law makers loyal to him where they impeached the Deputy Speaker, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Uchendu and elected Hon. Mandela Obasi as the Deputy Speaker while suspending those loyal who were part of the Speaker’s impeachment process.
Meanwhile, due to the intervention of the immediate past Governor of Abia State, Dr. Okezie Victor Ikpeazu who appealed that the house return to status quo, the Speaker announced that the house has resolved its crisis but maintained that Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Uchendu would not return as the Deputy Speaker.
The Declaration by the Speaker angered his Deputy who had accused him of witholding his Security Votes for about 9 Months.
The Deputy Speaker and the other law makers were then forced to conduct a separate Valedictory Session accusing the Speaker of being insincere with his claimed resolution of the crisis at the Assembly.
The members of the Abia State House of Assembly under the leadership of Rt.Hon. Chukwudi Apugo as the Speaker on Friday, held her End Valedictory session to mark the end of the legislative business of the 7th Abia House of Assembly.
The extraordinary/valedictory session which commenced at about 2:00 pm, was presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Uchendu at the instance of the factional Speaker, Rt. Hon. Chukwudi Apugo who was unavoidably absent.
The tenure of the 7th Abia State House of Assembly ended on Friday, June 9th, 2023 while the 8th Assembly is expected to be inaugurated next week.
Before the commencement of the legislative business, the opening prayer was said by the Minority Leader of the house, Hon. Chijioke Chukwu with some members of the house in attendance.
At the session, various committees of the house also presented their end of tenure reports which were considered at the floor of the house.
In his valedictory speech earlier, the Deputy Speaker, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Uchendu praised members for their various contributions in the floor of the house which according to him has contributed to the socio-political and economic development of their various constituencies and the state at large.
Rt. Hon Uchendu, lauded the past Governor of Abia State, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu for contributing his quota towards the development of the state and for his peaceful disposition which ensured that Abia state remains one of the safest states in the country.
Last month however we experienced a leadership crisis.
