June 26, (THEWILL) – It takes disciplined and development-conscious leaders to attract the needed gains of democracy to the people. That is, one could be a grassroots person and immediately he assumes an elected position, everything about the people is forgotten.
Some Federal constituencies in the country are lagging in the scheme of things because their lawmakers have failed to do their jobs for which they were sent to the red and green chambers of the National Assembly, Abuja by their constituents.
Among the Federal House of Representatives members in the country, the member representing Okigwe North Federal constituency, Rt. Hon. Miriam Onuoha, can be rightly defined as a leader-personified.
This two-time lawmaker is a shining example of a leader who is not afraid to think outside the box and propose innovative solutions to the problems affecting Okigwe, Isiala Mbano, and Onuimo federal constituency.
As a champion for her constituents, Rt. Hon. Miriam Onuoha has consistently demonstrated a deep understanding of the needs and concerns of people and has been working to represent their interests in the House of Representatives, Abuja. Not only that, this Woman has shown unwavering commitment to fighting for the rights of the marginalised and oppressed of the federal constituency she is representing and has been an advocate for development.
The people of the three local government areas love her, having demonstrated a remarkable ability to deepen the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Okigwe, Onuimo and Isiala Mbano Federal constituency, brought people together across party lines for common ground and has been described as a bridge builder.
Rt. Hon. Onuoha has a proven track record of working with stakeholders, even those from other parties, to achieve common goals, listen and find common ground.
Let us look at how she came into the corridor of power. In 1999, the late Maurice Ibekwe (Okwelle Holdings) from Onuimo LGA, vied for a House of Representatives seat to represent Okigwe North in the Green Chamber of the National Assembly under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and fortunately, he defeated other contenders in the race.
In 2003, the late Ibekwe vied for a second term under the same political party, PDP, and he won. Sadly, along the line, he was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for allegedly conniving with two other people (whose names I would not mention here) in duping a German of a huge amount of Three Hundred and Thirty Thousand US Dollars (330,000 USD) and Seventy-Five Thousand Deutschmark (DM75,000) through advanced free fraud (419). Unluckily, this lawmaker died in prison. May his soul continue to rest. That is just life for you. My dear esteemed readers, we are not here to judge the deceased over his involvement in the crime. Only Our Lord Jesus Christ has the final say.
But had it been that this lawmaker is alive today, he would have been crucified for failure to deliver on the needs of the people and disappointing his constituents to have handed over to a credible successor.
Incidentally, a by-election was conducted to fill the vacant seat created by the demise of Maurice. Mike Ohia, who also hails from the same Onuimo LGA, won the poll and he completed the second term that was truncated by the death of Maurice Ibekwe.
In the 2007 election, Okigwe – Mathew Omegara contested under PDP and won. In 2011, he defected to the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN under which he vied. He (Omegara) ran and won in 2015. Rt. Hon. Mathew Omegara tried his best to go for 3rd term but Engineer Obinna Onwubuariri from Isiala Mbano floored him.
In 2019, Onwubuariri re-contested but was booted out of the seat by the House of Representatives Election Tribunal. It was now followed by an election and Onwubuariri was defeated by Princess Miriam Onuoha. This was how this quintessential Amazon came to assume the mantle of leadership.
Since 2019, the people of the federal constituency have been greatly represented.
