Rt. Hon. Paul Emeziem, a one time member of the House has become the new Speaker of Imo State House of Assembly after the impeachment of former Speaker, Rt. Hon. Chiji Collins.
It is said only two term members are eligible to become Speaker of the State House of Assembly. In the 7th Assembly, it was one of the House Rules.
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It is unclear if rank rule has been followed in the present Assembly, considering the fact that the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Paul Emeziem; Deputy Speaker, Hon. Chyna Iwuanyanwu; Majority Leader, Hon Uche Ogbuagu and other principal officers are one term members.
With Speaker Collins exit, the most favoured to take his place on the basis of rank from Okigwe zone, where the Speaker-ship of the House is zoned to, is Hon Kennedy Ibe, member representing Obowo State constituency who is the only two term member from the zone.
However, the reason Ibe lost out in the race for Speaker-ship of the House is still unknown. He was first elected to the House in 2011 and re- elected for a second term in 2015 on the platform of the Action Alliance (AA).
Emeziem, the new Speaker who replaced Speaker Chiji Collins, was elected to the House of Assembly on the platform of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) in 2019.
He alongside other members, switched camp to the All Progressive Congress (APC) when Governor Hope Uzodinma was declared governor of Imo State by the Supreme Court.
According to the Deputy Speaker, Hon.Chyna Iwuanyanwu, in his speech when presenting the new speaker to the Governor, he rather identified the need to save the majority party, the All Progressive Congress(APC) from further ruin in the House, rather than the factor of rank, as major reason why they replaced the former Speaker “with a more competent hand”
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Political allegiance, rather than consideration for rank, was a major factor which may have influenced the choice of Hon. Paul Emeziem, as new Speaker of Imo State House of Assembly.
“We decided to replace him with somebody who has the interest of the party at heart” he said.
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