{"id":67086,"date":"2019-06-02T14:32:42","date_gmt":"2019-06-02T13:32:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=67086"},"modified":"2019-06-02T16:57:25","modified_gmt":"2019-06-02T15:57:25","slug":"speakership-abia-leaders-groups-adopt-chinedum-orji","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/speakership-abia-leaders-groups-adopt-chinedum-orji\/","title":{"rendered":"SPEAKERSHIP:\u00a0 ABIA LEADERS, GROUPS ADOPT CHINEDUM ORJI"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
As the June 11 date for the inauguration of the 7th Abia State House of<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
Assembly, draws near, groups and eminent personalities in the state have
\nthrown their weight behind the ambition of the Majority Leader of the
\nAssembly, Hon. Chinedum Orji, to emerge Speaker.The groups and eminent citizens of the state insist that Orji popularly
\nknown as ‘Ikuku’ remains the best candidate for the Speakership position
\nas he has worked greatly to uplift the lives of his constituents and
\nAbia youths.Pointblanknews.com gathered that 12 members-elect from the three
\npolitical parties (PDP, APGA, and APC) in the House have adopted him as
\ntheir candidate for Speaker. It was also gathered that due to the
\nwidespread support for Orji, the incumbent Speaker, Chikwendu Kalu, may
\nnot stand for re-election.<\/p>\n

Abia Government House sources told Pointblanknews.com that the Speaker
\nrecently met with Governor Okezie Ikpeazu pleading to be allowed to
\nconclude his tenure on June 11th.<\/p>\n

“The Speaker is aware that he stands no chance against Ikuku. The
\nreturning members of the House have vowed that Chikwendu Kalu will not
\nreturn as Speaker as he failed to carry all members along. The Speaker
\nhas read the hand writing on the wall. He has met with the governor and
\nis now seeking soft landing. The 7th House was scheduled to be
\ninaugurated on June 6th, but the Speaker pleaded that he be allowed to
\nconclude his tenure on June 11th. This is why the date of inauguration
\nwas shifted,” the source said.<\/p>\n

First to adopt Orji was the former Senate President, Chief Adolpus
\nWabara, who explained that the Majority Leader of the State Assembly is
\neminently qualified to emerge Speaker, adding that he would use his
\nwealth of experience to support Governor Okezie Ikpeazu to take the
\nstate to greater heights.<\/p>\n

Wabara, who called for the zoning of the speakership seat to the Ibeku
\naxis of the Abia Central district, recalled that Orji could have been
\nSpeaker in 2015, but declined.\u00a0 “Now, he is interested, he is the most
\nqualified from the Umuahia bloc. The position should go to him.”<\/p>\n

He argued that it would be unfair for the speakership seat to remain in
\nthe Ngwa bloc since the governor hails from the area.<\/p>\n

“Our party believes in zoning of political offices. We also believe in
\nmacro and micro zoning of offices to ensure that power rotates among the
\npolitical blocs equally. The Governor is from the Ukwa\/Ngwa political
\nbloc in Abia South zone, his deputy is from Abia North zone, so the just
\nthing to do is to zone the speakership position to the Abia central
\nzone.<\/p>\n

“But in doing that we must be careful to consider the fact that Abia
\nCentral senatorial zone cuts across the Ukwa\/Ngwa and old Bende
\npolitical blocs and for the sake of equity, it will not be just for the
\nUkwa\/Ngwa bloc that produced the Governor to also produce the speaker.<\/p>\n

“Based on this, Old Bende axis should produce the speaker from the
\nUmuahia area, while Ukwa\/Ngwa axis should take the deputy speaker. It is
\nunfair for the speakership seat to remain in Ngwa when they also have
\nthe governor. Abia is a state of equity; we the Ukwa\/Ngwas got the
\ngovernorship position because we believe in equity. Hon. Chinedum Orji
\ncould have been Speaker in 2015, but he declined. Now, he is interested,
\nhe is the most qualified from the Umuahia bloc, the position should go
\nto him.”<\/p>\n

Another eminent citizen in the state, Prof. Gregory Ibe, who is the pro-
\nchancellor of the Gregory University, has also backed the call for Orji
\nto emerge Speaker, and urged members-elect to support him.<\/p>\n

ORJI, A STABLIZING FACTOR \u2013 EX APGA CHIEFTAIN<\/p>\n

Speaking on the opposition against Orji by supporters of the sitting
\nSpeaker, a former chieftain of APGA and aide to Dr. Alex Otti, Dr.
\nAyodele Moses, said,”I know their target is Engineer Chinedum Orji. The
\nfact is that many people were surprised that he didn’t even emerged
\nspeaker four years ago. He has been on his own. If what I’ve heard about
\nChinedum Orji is correct, then he has been more of a stabilizing factor
\nand a staunch supporter of the incumbent government. I don’t see him
\ntrying to destroy the house he’s helping to build.<\/p>\n

“I don’t buy that scaremongering. He has the requisite experience and
\nhe’s capable. He has not been involved in any scandal since he assumed
\noffice.\u00a0 I have not met Chinedum Orji one on one, but I now know that
\nmany of us were wrong when we were in APGA in having the impression that
\nonce the man is in, he will destabilize the whole place and pave way for
\nhimself. I don’t think it will be nice for people to aspire to position
\nof power by scaremongering.”<\/p>\n

LEGISLATOR PAR EXCELLENCE<\/p>\n

Lending their voices to the ongoing debate on who emerges the next
\nSpeaker, two socio political groups; Coalition of South East Youths
\nLeaders(COSEYL) and Reformers Platform, through their spokesmen,
\nGoodluck Ibem and Francis Uguru, described the Majority Leader as a
\nlegislator par excellence who had impacted positively on the lives of
\nyouths and adopted him as their candidate for Speaker.<\/p>\n

“Engr. Chinedu Orji is a consummate politician and a legislator par
\nexcellence.\u00a0 Having gone through his achievements in the House in the
\narea of youth empowerment, scholarship to indigent students, renovation
\nof schools, sponsorship of motion\/bills in the last four years; we rate
\nhim as the best candidate for speakership position.<\/p>\n

“We therefore call on all members-elect of the 7th Abia House of
\nAssembly to unanimously vote Hon. Chinedu Orji as Speaker.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the June 11 date for the inauguration of the 7th Abia State House of Assembly, draws near, groups and eminent personalities in the state have thrown their weight behind…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":67095,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\nSPEAKERSHIP:\u00a0 ABIA LEADERS, GROUPS ADOPT CHINEDUM ORJI - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/speakership-abia-leaders-groups-adopt-chinedum-orji\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SPEAKERSHIP:\u00a0 ABIA LEADERS, GROUPS ADOPT CHINEDUM ORJI - 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