BY CHIDI NKWOPARA
Old and returning members of the Imo State House of Assembly being politicians did all manner of things to win election or re-election.

Money was an issue. And surely, godfatherism came to the fore ahead of the last general polls. Those who were not favoured by their political parties jumped ship and found solace in other parties where they tried their luck. At the end of the political contest, 14 persons were elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, a result the PDP leaders at the state and national levels regarded as a comfortable lead over the other political parties.

The Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN despite earlier optimism could only grab one seat in the scramble. All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, smiled home with 10 seats. The two seats for Oguta and Ngor Okpala state constituencies are still outstanding till date because the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, did not conclude the elections in the areas.Governor Okorocha, from the look of things, was not very comfortable with the minority position of APGA in the House.

He began serious horse trading and at the end of the day, he was able to secretly extract promises from four PDP lawmakers.This secret agreement was made manifest at the inauguration of the House by Okorocha”s Deputy, Sir Jude Agbaso.

The four legislators, including the Speaker, Mr. Benjamin Uwajimogu, announced their resignation from PDP and declared their support for APGA.Uwajimogu representing Ihitte/Uboma state constituency and his deputy, Honourable Ozoemena Donatus representing Oru West state constituency immediately decamped to APGA once they were elected Speaker and Deputy Speaker respectively and thereby converted PDP to minority status in the House.Others who defected include the memberS for Okigwe and Ahiazu Mbaise state constituencies, Mr. Acho Ihim, Deputy Majority Leader, Adaku C. Ihuoma as the new Majority Leader This singular act reversed the fortunes of the PDP to a minority status.Imo PDP led by Sir Eze Duruiheoma, SAN, is not taking the act of these four lawmakers lightly.

They see it as ““gross sabotage”” and have already instituted a battle with the decampees. They are challenging the propriety or otherwise of the actions of Uwajimogu and his co-travellers.Confirming this in an interview, the State PDP Legal Adviser, Chief C.O.C. Akaolisa, explained that the action of the lawmakers is illegal, having contested and won their elections under the PDP umbrella.

The House has since started playing along with Governor Rochas Okorocha. Some of the few actions of the legislature included the reduction of the security votes allocated to some public office holders in the state and which was captured in the 2011 budget. This action by the House basically remains the brain child of Governor Okorocha.

Not long after its inauguration, the lawmakers unanimously passed a motion commending the Governor for ““being in tune with the hopes and aspirations of Imo civil servants, as typified by his prompt response to the payment of salary arrears owed to them”.Apart from the contributions of other lawmakers, the member for Owerri Municipal, Dr. Victor Mere, described Okorocha as ““the peoples” Governor””, adding that by his action, he has demonstrated a provision in his manifesto to run an administration of self sacrifice.

Prominent and vocal members of the House include Chief Sam Daddy Anyanwu, Chief Simeon Iwunze and Chief Stan Dara for Ikeduru, Isiala Mbano and Orsu state constituencies respectively. Iwunze for instance, held the Assembly spell bound with his fiery submissions when some of his colleagues, especially the first timers, wanted to discuss the affairs of the 27 local council administration when it was before an Imo High Court.

A likely friction between
the executive and legislature may rear its head if the four decampees decide to return PDP. If and when this happens, PDP will be in the majority and thus produce the principal officers of the House. The likelihood of this happening will definitely elicit commensurate reaction from Governor Rochas Okorocha, who would not want his policies and programmes to be delayed or sabotaged.

So far, the House has so far not seen anything wrong with any of the activities, actions, pronouncements of the Governor. Okorocha sacked the council chairmen and councilors, hinging his action on alleged financial malfeasance.Apparently acting to establish this allegation, the House on June 20, 2011, set up an 11-man ad-hoc committee to probe the finance of the 27 local governments. Confirming this development to newsmen, the ad-hoc Committee Chairman and member representing Owerri Municipal, Dr. Victor Mere, said they have 21 days to complete its assignment and send in their report.

“We will look into the income and expenditure profile of the local councils. We will also look into the staff strenght and contracts awarded by the various local governments””, Mere said.Already, the Committee has issued the directors of administration and general services, DAGS, in all the council areas forms to fill and return, stressing that the content of the forms would serve as the working tools for the Committee during the inspection tour of the local government areas.For now, Imo people are anxiously waiting for the new administration in the state to actualize its election promises.