February 22, (THEWILL) – There was controversy on Monday in Abakaliki, Ebonyi state capital, as two lawmakers of the state house of assembly lay claim to the position of the the deputy speaker of the hallowed chamber.
The two members are the deputy speaker Hon. Odefa Obasi Odefa representing Onicha East constituency and Hon. Kingsley Ikoro member representing Afikpo North West constituency.
Prior to the development, Hon. Obasi Odefa was the Deputy Speaker of the assembly.
Odefa had last Saturday reaffirmed his membership with the People’s Democratic Party(PDP) in Ebonyi State Consequently, the plan for his removal as the deputy speaker.
THEWILL reports that only 15 out of the 24 lawmakers of the assembly elected Kingsley Okoro as the new deputy speaker of the Ebonyi state house of assembly. The 15 lawmakers are members of the ruling All Progressives Congress ( APC) in the state.
Ikoro was elected at the House plenary presided over by the Speaker Hon. Francis Nwifuru, who read a purported letter on the floor of the house that Odefa( the deputy speaker) has resigned his membership of the Assembly. The letter was dated 15th December 2021.
After the letter was read on the floor of the House, the speaker, Nwifuru declared Odefa’s seat vacant with Ogonnaya Ikoro elected the new deputy speaker after a motion was moved by the member representing Ohaozara West constituency, Hon. Onu Nwoye, and seconded by Hon. Anthony Nwegede of Izzi East state constituency.
In an interview with journalists, Ikoro, who was Deputy Leader of the Assembly before his election by the 15 Lawmakers, described the development as “An opportunity to serve. Politics is all about the people because the mandate you are holding is the mandate of the people, you are just a trustee of the people’s mandate. So, any opportunity to serve the people is highly welcomed.”
But in a reaction, the embattled lawmaker, Hon. Obasi Odefa, a member of the People’s Democratic Party(PDP), at a press briefing in Abakaliki together with other PDP lawmakers said he did not author any letter of resignation as a member of the state House of Assembly and vowed to sue the Speaker for what he described as a forgery.
Odefa said that he is still the deputy speaker of the state Assembly describing his removal as a waste of time and null and void.
“You don’t place something on nothing, it does not exist. They lack the powers to purport and forge letters and read on my behalf before my colleagues purportedly written by me, that’s a serious crime if they don’t know.
“One thing they don’t know is that no member of the House of Assembly has immunity. In the constitution of this country, only the president, vice president, governor, deputy governor has immunity. No other person has immunity,” he said.
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