Eight Months On, Aba North Still Unrepresented in Abia Assembly

Since November, 2023 when the Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos voided the election of Hon Destiny Nwagwu and pronounced Hon Aaron Uzodike as the duly elected member to represent Aba North in the Abia State House of Assembly, the Speaker, Hon Emmanuel Emeruwa has refused to comply with the ruling of the appellate court. Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo reports.

T

he Eighth session of the Abia State House of Assembly has crossed one year of legislative work since its inauguration in June, 2023.

But of all the 24 state constituencies represented in the Assembly, Aba North has no representation. The seat has been vacant since November 27, 2023 when the Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos voided the mandate of Hon Destiny Nwagwu. In his  place the appellate Court declared Hon Aaron Uzodike as the rightful person to occupy the Aba North seat in the Eighth Abia House.

Uzodike, who was a member of the seventh Abia House on the platform of the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had wanted to revalidate his mandate for a second term. He lost to the Labour Party candidate, Hon Nwagwu, who benefitted from the Peter Obi wave in the 2023 general election. Uzodike challenged his loss at the  Abia State Governorship and House of Assembly Elections Petitions Tribunal but lost to Nwagwu, yet again. However, Uzodike didn’t agree with the verdict and went to the Appeal Court for redress.

And so on November 27, 2023, Uzodike realised his dream of returning to the Abia Assembly as the Appellate Court ruled in his favour and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to withdraw the Certificate of Return earlier issued to Nwagwu and issue a fresh one to him. The electoral body promptly complied with the court order and on December 13, 2023 issued Uzodike a certificate of return with reference number SHA/0648/2023. Armed with the certificate of return, Uzodike returned to Abia but could not take up the seat vacated by Uzodike. Politics took over the seat.

After his state assembly mandate was  upturned, Nwagwu rushed to the Abia State High Court in Ukwa and obtained an ex-parte order restraining the Speaker, Rt Hon Emmanuel Emeruwa from inaugurating Uzodike. In fact, his inauguration was said to have already been scheduled for December 18, 2023 well before Nwagwu came and waved the court injunction before the Speaker. Probably for political exigency, Emeruwa chose to obey the curious injunction from a lower court in a matter the appellate Court had already pronounced its verdict. In petitions pertaining to the State and National Assembly election, the Appeal Court is by law the final court of arbitration.

The Abia Assembly Speaker, who represents Aba South state constituency, had in defending his action argued that the appellate Court did not make any order for him to swear-in Uzodike. He also stated that since he was served the court injunction restraining him from inaugurating Uzodike as a member of the Eighth Abia House, he had to obey the court.

Eventually, the case Nwagwu filed at the high court marked HUK/1/2023 was dismissed on March 19, 2024 by Justice C. H Ahuchaogu, who hitherto issued the ex-parte order. Despite the outcome of Nwagwu’s misadventure at the state high court, Uzodike’s dilemma still persisted. His efforts to be admitted into the eight Abia House remained a dream.

On June 13, 2024 during his maiden press conference to mark the first anniversary of the eight Abia House under his leaders. hip, the Speaker revealed other reasons for not inaugurating Uzodike. He said that the PDP lawmaker-elect had filed forms 48 and 49 meant to commit him to prison for contempt of court(ostensibly for not inaugurating him). “If I was jailed, will I be in prison and swear him in,” the Speaker wondered aloud in palpable anger.

In all these hide and seek game, high wire politics was at play. Uzodike’s victory at the Appeal Court meant that PDP has increased its majority in the 24-member House to 12.

At inauguration on June 14, 2023, the Eighth Abia House was composed of 11 PDP members, 10 LP, two members of Young Progressives Party(YPP) and one from the All Progressives Congress(APC).

The slim majority of PDP counted for nothing during the election of principal officers of the House. The ruling LP outwitted PDP and produced the House Speaker with the support of YPP and APC members. The PDP was further humiliated as it was not allowed to produce the Majority Leader of the House even when it was so obvious that the former ruling party produced the highest number of legislators in the Eighth Abia House. It was therefore a very bitter pill for LP to swallow when Hon Nwagwu lost at the appellate Court thereby reducing its number in the House to nine.

Though the two YPP lawmakers, Hon Fyne Ahuama of Osisioma Ngwa South and Hon Iheanacho Nwogu of Osisioma North state constituencies have now defected to LP, the addition has not altered  the majority status of PDP. With Uzodike still waiting in the wings, PDP will have 12 legislators to LP’s 11. No doubt, the ruling party may not feel comfortable being outnumbered in the House by the main opposition party, even though it is not a commanding majority. While PDP is enjoying its bragging right of having the slim majority, LP boasts of total control of the House and keeping Uzodike at bay would diminish the accentuation of PDP majority.

The ruling party has not hidden its intention to retain the Aba North seat even after losing it in court. Some traditional rulers in Aba North were enlisted and instigated to sign a statement calling on the Speaker to declare the Aba North seat vacant. They alleged that Uzodike had fled abroad hence INEC should hold a by-election to fill the “vacant seat”.

The game plan was for the ruling party to leverage its incumbency to retake the seat lost in the court. The devious plan collapsed following the outrage it generated.

Emeruwa’s persistent foot dragging has been frustrating to both Uzodike and his party, PDP. But the former ruling party is not giving up on the struggle to get its lawmaker-elect into the Abia Assembly. It has continued to mount pressure on the Speaker to allow Uzodike take his seat. The party leadership and stakeholders have variously condemned Emeruwa’s action, urging him to uphold the rule of law.

In a statement signed by the Abia PDP Vice Chairman, Elder Amah Abraham, who also doubles as the Acting state publicity secretary, the party insisted that every condition necessary for Uzodike to take his seat has been complied with.

The main opposition party has been blowing red hot, accusing the Abia Speaker and his party, LP of playing politics with the mandate of Aba North State constituency, warning that disobedience to the rule of law portends danger to democracy and Abia State.

 “The delay is not only arbitrary, but also illegal, disrespectful to the judiciary and laws of the land and also dangerous because it is capable of leading to a breakdown of the law and order not only in Aba North constituency where they have been denied a voice in the way they are governed but also in the entire Abia State,” the PDP said.

Abia PDP further urged the Speaker to learn from the National Assembly where the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon.Tajudeen Abbas, promptly swore-in all federal lawmakers that won their mandates in courts, irrespective of party affiliations. The PDP has also roped Governor Alex Otti into the fray, saying he was the one dictating to the Abia Speaker. This theory was enabled by Uzodike’s claim that the Speaker bluntly told him that he has “orders from above” not to inaugurate him. The party, therefore, took the fight to Otti’s doorstep and specifically asked the Abia governor to prevail on the Speaker to inaugurate the PDP lawmaker-elect. 

But the insinuation of Otti’s involvement has been quickly dismissed by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Publicity, Mr. Ferdinand Ekeoma. He vehemently denied the governor’s alleged involvement in Uzodike’s ordeal, saying the Abia legislature is an independent arm of government and the governor has nothing to do with the way the Speaker pilots the affairs  of the House. Even at that, this denial has done little to douse the suspicion of executive manipulation of the Speaker like a puppeteer. The PDP has continued to rob it in, saying the action of the Speaker “speaks to the authoritarian bent and tendencies of the present government”, branding them as “autocrats disguising as democrats”.

With Speaker Emeruwa not budging even with all the missiles being hauled at him, Abia PDP has appealed to “the elders and good people of the State to wade in and stop the Labour Party from disrespecting the courts and their judgements”. It stated that “once it becomes a norm, it would not only be detrimental to our democracy, but also herculean to change the aberration in the  future.”

Some Abia PDP chieftains have also called on the national leader of LP,  Mr. Peter Obi to look into what is happening in Abia and call his disciples to order. A former Commissioner for Trade and Investment, Chief John Okiyi Kalu, who is a constituent of Aba North, believes that the LP presidential flag bearer in the 2023 poll has the capacity to stop his party, which is in power in Abia, from trampling on the rule of law. He said: “It bears reminding that the party in power in Abia State, the Labour Party, is the same party led by our beloved democrat, Mr. Peter Obi, who has been leading a group of presumably decent young men and women called ‘Obidients’ to demand good governance in Nigeria.

“Surprisingly, neither Mr  Peter Obi nor leaders of the ‘Obidient’ movement have yet expressed outrage about the shenanigans going on in Abia State”.

PDP is not the only party crying against the refusal of Abia Speaker to obey the Appeal Court ruling and swear in the Aba North member-elect. Other opposition parties have lent their voices. The Abia State chairman of the African Action Congress(AAC), Comrade Ezumaibe Kelechiukwu said it is imperative “that justice prevails and the democratic principles we hold dear are upheld” in Abia Assembly. He expressed “great disappointment” at Speaker Emeruwa’s “blatant disregard for the rule of law and the principles of justice”. The AAC chairman stated that there was no reason whatsoever for the Speaker to have delayed and continues to delay swearing in Uzodike immediately INEC issued him the Certificate of Return. “We demand that the Speaker of the Abia State House of Assembly upholds the rule of law and respect the court’s verdict by swearing in Hon. Aaron Uzodike without any further delay,” he said in a statement.

On its part, the Abia chapter of the Young Progressives Party (YPP), which recently lost its two state lawmakers to LP, said the Speaker should put an end to the impasse over the Aba North seat. Speakig on a radio programme, Open Parliament on July 18, 2024, the state chairman of YPP, Chimex Ogbonna said the Aba North member-elect should be allowed to take his seat in the Abia Assembly without further delay since the court has declared him winner.

A legal practitioner and rights activist, Mr. Emperor Ogbonna, who is also a member of YPP roundly condemned the unwillingness of the Speaker to obey a simple court verdict. He explained that since INEC had done its own part and issued a Certificate of Return to Uzodike, the Speaker doesn’t require any other thing to inaugurate the Aba North member-elect.

Uzodike may appear frustrated and exhausted in his efforts to return to the Abia Assembly but he has not given up the struggle. He said having filed all the necessary documents, including his Certificate of Return, he had presented himself on several occasions for the Speaker to inaugurate him only to be rebuffed.

He appealed to Governor Otti to direct the Speaker to inaugurate him since he has the power to prevail on the Speaker. Uzodike has maintained that there is no existing legal impediment against his inauguration.

“As at today, there is nothing pending in any court here in Abia, Nigeria, West Aftica, and the whole world restraining the Speaker from inaugurating me,” the embattled lawmaker-elect said.

Meanwhile, his opponent, Hon Nwagwu has eventually given up the fight and moved on after futile attempt to regain the legislative seat he lost in the appellate court after five months stay in the House. He was on July 16 inuagurated alongside others as pioneer members of the Abia State House of Assembly Service Commission. With this appointment he will live to fight another day, probably in 2027 when he could renew his bid to be a lawmaker, having tasted its lucre, albeit briefly.