By Onyekachi Eze
The Speaker, Imo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Kennedy Ibeh has attracted the fury of his Colleagues over purported utterances credited to him.
Trumpeta newspaper learnt that the Speaker allegedly described himself as “untouchable”, whom the Members of the 9th Imo Assembly have no Will and powers to impeach.
The said statement was alleged to have been made by the Speaker during an enlarged meeting he had with his Obowo Constituents in Owerri, last week.
Since then, it is reported to have been generating uproar among the Lawmakers.
From the look of things, the rosy relationship that had existed among the Imo Legislators appears to be sour if the threats emanating from the House are to be considered.
Recall that Rt. Hon Ibeh emerged the third Speaker of the present House after the ouster of his predecessor, Rt. Hon Paul Emeziem.
In less than 40 minutes, the gavel hit against Emeziem followed by a suspension over acts termed “unparliamentary”.
Should the Members delve into full investigation and find out if truly the number one Lawmaker in the State uttered such a word he was accused of, mass revolt is imminent.
Outcome of the would-be revolt Trumpeta observed from precedence might not be palatable to the ranking member of Obowo State Constituency.
The Speaker’s purported comment which the unsuspecting public may have waved aside, is believed to have gained indepth meaning by his Assembly Members.
While Ibeh has won the Obowo APC Assembly ticket for his third term missionary journey, others who lost out is said to be warming up for war at any given opportunity.
An insider who spoke to this newspaper under strict anonymity said, “The Speaker has attracted envy for himself. If he is not watchful, he may be removed from that seat the way his predecessors were shown the way out”.
Before now, the body language of the Members had spelt resentment of the way and manner they are being treated.
Aside the comment, another strong factor that may work against the Speaker is his relationship with his Colleagues.
While some members accuse him of bias, others are of the opinion that he doesn’t carry them along, neither does he table their complaints boardering on welfare to the Governor.
Unless Ibeh swings into action and douse all frayed nerves, the end might not be welcoming.
Meanwhile, the media department of the Speaker has countered the claims and reports.
In a media statement signed by Citizen Samuelson Iwuoha sent to Assembly Vibes, it reads,
“On Wednesday, the 26th of July 2022, the Rt Honourable Speaker of Imo State House Of Assembly, Kennedy Chidozie Ibeh, conveyed a meeting of Obowo indigenes living in Owerri at the DE ROYAL EVENTS CENTRE, along IMO CONCORDE HOTEL ROAD, to give Account of his Stewardship. He had earlier done so in Obowo Local Government Area, but this time around, decided to invite his brethren living in Owerri, the Imo State Capital, for the same purpose. Please find attached to this Rejoinder, the Brochure, which was distributed at the occasion, detailing the Achievements of Rt Honourable Kennedy Chidozie Ibeh, both as Speaker of Imo State House Of Assembly and As member representing Obowo State Constituency.
“While reading out the contents of the brochure, the Rt Hon Speaker further informed his Obowo Audience that it would be *Better and more Advantageous* to consolidate on the Achievements so far recorded, than to have a New House Member for Obowo State Constituency, who would waste time and resources learning the business of Lawmaking, Appropriation and Oversight, unlike him who has consolidated Experience, Exposure and in addition to being Speaker.
“The Speaker never at any point ridiculed his esteemed colleagues. Neither did he say his colleagues cannot remove him, if they are no longer comfortable with his Pragmatic and ingenious style of leadership. The Office Of the Speaker covered the event comprehensively, and we are Ready, Willing and Able to make our Tapes available for the Public and our Esteemed lawmakers to Scrutinize and find out the truth. We also have Record of those that attended the event. On our register, we have a total of 187 Obowo indigenes living in Owerri, who attended the event.
“The undiluted truth is that we are in the period of Politics and Politicking, so Ambitious opposition members who are envious of the Rt Honourable Speaker’s Achievements, both as the Number One Lawmaker in the State and Member Representing Obowo State Constituency, are jittery, and have therefore decided to throw Spanners of Blackmail, Spanners of Lies, Spanners of Hate Speech and indeed Spanners of Political Hatred on the Wheel of Sociopolitical Progress of Rt Honourable Kennedy Chidozie Ibeh (Nke Nke Enyi N’Achikota Igwe Enyi)”.
