Recently, the Imo State House of Assembly suspended six of her members, citing unparliamentary conducts, as the reason for their suspension.
Affected in the suspension, were amongst others, the former Majority Leader of the Imo State House of Assembly, and member representing Ikeduru State Constituency, Mr. Uche Ogbuagu.
Some of the affected lawmakers, have challenged their suspension, insisting that the Speaker of the Imo Assembly, Mr. Paul Emeziem, did not have the right to remove them from office.
On his own part, the Speaker revealed that he acted according to the powers given to him.
Interestingly, those powers upon which Emeziem acted upon, was given to him by motion moved by Uche Ogbuagu, and adopted by the Assembly.
MaaziTV observed, that while he was the Majority Leader of the Imo Assembly, Mr Uche Ogbuagu had moved a motion for the urgent amendment of the House Order 11, Rules 61, 62 and 63.
The amendments empowered the Speaker Of Imo State House Of Assembly, IMHA, to suspend any member of the State House.
Ogbuagu, who won the Ikeduru seat through the Peoples Democratic Party PDP, fell out of favour with the Rt Hon Emeka Ihedioha administration, when he felt displeased by the selection of Hon Okey Onyekamma, the Mbaitoli State Constituency representative, to serve as the Deputy Speaker of the State Assembly instead of him.
Ogbuagu had expected Ihedioha to influence the process, but the former governor had left the selection solely to the State Assembly members, who preferred Onyekamma over Ogbuagu.
Ogbuagu would defect to the All Progressives Congress APC, upon the Supreme Court verdict that removed Ihedioha, and declared Senator Hope Uzodinma, the winner of the 2019 Governorship election in Imo State.
Ogbuagu would be rewarded with the position of Majority Leader, but would be relieved of that position, following allegations of disobedience, and behaviour unbecoming of a legislator, leveled against him.
His recent suspension seems to compound his political woes, casting doubts whether the party would gamble their ticket with him in the next election.
Popular rights activist, and former legislative officer at the Imo State Assembly, Citizen Ikenna Samuelson Iwuoha, blamed Uche Ogbuagu’s ambition for his political woes.
MaaziTV reported that a former Senator of Owerri zone, who is also from Ikeduru, Senator Samuel Anyanwu SamDaddy, while speaking with newsmen, alleged that some lawmakers of the State Assembly, had started negotiation to defect to the PDP.
Whether Ogbuagu would be welcomed back to the PDP, after his treatment of the party that brought him to power, remains another matter.
