Ikpeazu under siege

• As plot to impeach  Abia Speaker thickens

THERE are emerging indications that some political leaders in Abia State have engaged in a dirty game to emasculate Governor Okezie Ikpeazu with the aim of controlling the state government. These political leaders were gathered to include some members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and a few opposition political parties, allegedly led by Chinedum Orji. They were said to have laid siege on the governor to intimidate or manipulate him into succumbing to their requests for patronage from the state government. This desperation for government patronage is coming as Governor Ikpeazu is just settling down to continue the development of the state after the Supreme Court victory.

It was discovered that the cabal in the state adopted an indirect political simulation to attach the stronghold of support of the governor in the legislature. Invariably, they conceived clandestine plot, which was recently exposed, to impeach the Speaker of Abia State House of Assembly, Right Honourable Martins Azubuike, who is widely perceived to be an unalloyed loyalist of Governor Ikpeazu. Azubuike is to be replaced by a loyalist of the cabal desperate in the House to bring the governor under their perpetual domineering influence.

The plot of these political actors is to use a new Speaker of the House to intimidate and compel Ikpeazu to submission whenever they need patronage from the state government.
There are indications that Governor Ikpeazu is not in the dark about the plot. His awareness of the plot was revealed at the thanksgiving service on his final victory at the Supreme Court on February 17, 2016 at Umuahia Township Stadium, Abia State. The Service was presided over by Reverend Umah Okpai.

The Governor had appealed that opposition political parties in the state and all the people who either worked against his candidacy or contested against him during the election should join hands with him in his passionate desire to re-build Abia. Ikpeazu had maintained that all judicial issues relating to the validity of his election have been laid to rest by the judgement of the Supreme Court Justices on February 3, 2016.

Governor Ikpeazu had cited Galatians 6:17 of the Holy Bible to admonish: “From henceforth, let no man trouble me, for I bear in my body, the mark of the Lord Jesus.”

The renewed power struggle was indication that those who wanted Governor Ikpeazu ousted from office through the courts are yet to shield their battle swords. There were revelations that the governor’s setback at the Appeal Court where he lost to Alex Otti of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) was the handiwork of some PDP members on a voyage of betraying him and sabotaging the PDP.

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There was the innuendo that at certain surreptitious meetings of the cabal in Umuahia, Abuja and Lagos, purportedly led by Chinedum Orji, plans were strengthened to weaken the authority of the Governor and make his position ceremonial, so as to enable them to control the resources of the state. Having met brick walls in their original plots, they were gathered to have shifted their battle to the State House of Assembly to actualize their ambition.

The new plot to remove Speaker Martins Azubuike, whose intelligence and candor are said to have stabilized the relationship between the Executive and the Legislature since he was made the Speaker, is to cause disaffection between the governor, commissioners and members of the House of Assembly.

It was disclosed that the political calculation is that when Speaker Azubuike is removed, the Majority Leader, Hon. Chinedum Enyinnaya Orji, popularly called Ikuku, son of Senator T.A Orji, former Abia Governor who now represents Abia Central Senatorial Zone in the National Assembly, would be elected Speaker; and thereafter, they will have all the powers to control the governor. “We also learnt that other plans are on the cards to get another lawmaker if Enyinnaya Orji rejects the offer to become the new Speaker,” it was gathered. A member of the state Assembly alleged that Hon. Orji expects the present Speaker to be subservient to him, a move Azubuike has so far ignored.

There are further indications that some APGA members in the House that left PDP seem to have been bought over by Hon. Chinedum Orji to overwhelm Azubuike.

However, one of the APGA members in the House who pleaded anonymity purported that Hon. Orji allegedly called them three times for meetings trying to convince them to see reasons why the Speaker must be removed.

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The APGA member, however, bemoaned that Hon. Orji is taking them for a ride, after the way his family ruined the state which led to many of them defecting to APGA. He told this Reporter that the impeachment agenda will fail. “We are satisfied with our Speaker.

Whatever happens to the Speaker will definitely affect the Governor and all the projects he has embarked upon this period will stop. Our people are already satisfied with the performance of this administration so far. We cannot obstruct the existing progress in the state,” he stated.

Another dimension unveiled in the impeachment plot when all APGA members in the House boycotted the House plenary on Monday 15, and Tuesday 16, February, 2016, on a flimsy excuse that they have not been paid their January salary. They did that to create the impression that the Governor and the Speaker are not in control.

Our investigation revealed that they have not only received their January salary, Gov. Ikpeazu also released N6 million to each member of the House for constituency projects.
In strengthening their plot, members of the group recently renewed their strategy by recruiting a House member from Obingwa constituency as a mole; coincidentally, Gov. Ikpeazu is from Obingwa Local Government Area.

Meanwhile, they still have a herculean task to convince lawmakers from Ukwa Ngwa and some APGA members in the House that have conscience, who are happy with the work the governor is doing across the state and also the Speaker’s leadership style.

The battle has shifted to the March 5th re-run elections for state constituencies. It was disclosed that Hon. Orji has mobilized enough cash to support some of his “boys” with the belief that when they succeed, he may then control about 16 members in the House and upturn the majority skew.

There are insinuations that Senator T.A. Orji is not happy that Gov. Ikpeazu has done in eight months, even with dwindling revenue from the federation account, what he could not achieve in eight years. Abians are said to be keenly watching how PDP that won a hard earned victory would allow inordinate ambition of a few political actors to destroy the party-government in Abia.

ALSO SEE: APC expresses shock over Abia, Akwa Ibom governorship verdict

A House member who spoke to our Reporter on the condition of anonymity, disclosed that on Friday, February 19, the PDP caucus in the House, led by the Majority Leader held a meeting with the Governor but the Speaker was not in attendance. The absence of the Speaker from that meeting with the governor has heightened the suspicion that all is not well with Abia lawmakers.

In Aba, Ukwa Ngwa Youth Leader, Mr. Uchechukwu Nwaogwugwu, who spoke to this Reporter, emphasized that though Ukwa Ngwa people are grateful to Senator Orji for making it possible for power to shift to Ukwa Ngwa area, he contended that they have also shown him love by making him a Senator, even when his people rejected him. Nwaogwugwu admonished those plotting to impeach the Speaker and the Governor to forget the plot or face battle with the Ukwa Ngwa nation.