IHEDIOHA ANOINTS SPEAKER FOR 9TH ASSEMBLY, ORDERS ALL RETURNING MEMBERS TO MAKE IMO UNGOVERNABLE FOR OKOROCHA?

Johnbull Chikwe

Indications emerged yesterday that the illegally declared governor-elect of Imo State, His Excellency Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha has finally made his pick of whom he prefers as the next Speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly.

Following a post made by the Head of his new media team, Aic Akwarandu, where he simply wrote; Mr. Speaker… Take a bow, yours sincerely through his several antennas in different rooms of Chief Ihedioha began a frantic search for information on what could have led one of his closest aides to make such a post.

One of my searches came out with the result that the former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives had met with key members of his kitchen cabinet, mostly from Mbaise where they agreed on whom to ‘appoint’ as the next Speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly.

Some of the criteria considered before arriving at the decision are: loyalty to Chief Ihedioha, past records of political outing, the candidate’s malleability and a guarantee that such a candidate will be fully cooperate with Ihedioha in making sure that the House is fully in his grips.

At the meeting, returning members-elect, who are interested in contesting for the position of the Speaker were said to have been told that their chances of emerging Speaker would improve with how much heat they put on the Rescue Mission administration. The returning members-elect are said to have been giving straight instructions to ensure that the governor is terribly embarrassed in these dying days of his administration, and the candidate who sponsors the highest number of harrasing motions against the governor, stands the best chance of emerging the Speaker.

According to several sources; the PDP understand that they do not have any members-elect who is ranking nor do they have any of its members elected from Okigwe zone, where the next Speaker is supposed to emerge from, hence, the decision to trade the position to either AA or the APGA, ‘if they find a reliable candidate who can play game’. In a situation where no suitable candidate is found, the Rt. Hon. Ihedioha is said to be favorably disposed to anointing a first timer, most likely from Orlu zone.

However, the meeting is said to have shortlisted three names, one of whom is a first timer from Okigwe zone, a second timer from Okigwe zone, too and another first timer from Orlu. Those favored are of the APGA, AA and the PDP. However, a final seal seems to have been put on the choice of member-elect for Ikeduru LGA, Hon. Uche Ogbuagu, who is said to have been pencilled down as the next deputy Speaker of the House. The thinking is that no matter who emerges as Speaker, Uche Ogbuagu, who is a known associate of Chief Ihedioha, will allegedly be the clearing House on any deals concerning the legislature and the executive.

Meantime, the thirteen members-elect who are of the PDP are said to have committed to total loyalty to Rt.Hon. Ihedioha and would be giving a bulk vote to anyone anointed by Chief Ihedioha and the Party.