Imo 2015: Hon. Emeka Ihedioha Breaks Silence & Bares his Fangs By John Mgbe Hon Emeka Ihedioha, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the NO.6 person in the order of Protocol in Nigeria has revved his political machine in readiness for the epic governorship battle of 2015.While waiting on INEC to flash the Green Light for the commencement of the electioneering proper ,Hon Emeka Ihedioha is making consultation visits and cameo appearances to some select political clusters to familiarize himself with a cross section of his faithful in order to break the ice and make pertinent clarifications in regard to all manner of wild and frivolous allegations that have been persistently launched at him in the past months. His persistent stoicism and taciturnity in the face of the fusillade of propaganda against him gave the erroneous signal that his silence was synonymous with acquiescence to the malicious and fabricated tales from his political adversaries. It is, perhaps, on account of this development that he has embarked on the consultation visits and interactive sessions with the people in order to douse the lingering frustrations of some of his admirers on the negative and hostile comments being made by a cross section of politicians in Imo State whose intention is to tarnish his reputation even before the electioneering kicks off. The consultation visits have so far taken him to two Local Government Areas in the State. His entourage was hosted at the country home of Hon Maxwell Duru at Okwelle in Onuimo LGA on Friday 4th April, while the group was also hosted at the country home of Chief Ebere Udeagu at Ihube in Okigwe LGA on 6th April. In this viewpoint, I want to report the visit at Ihube. On arrival at the venue, the Hon Deputy Speaker was received by a large gathering of party faithful who were already waiting eagerly for his arrival. He moved straight to the IME-OBI to have a brief chat with the chief host, Engineer Ebere Udeagu, former Deputy Governor of Imo State(1999-2007).When they emerged from the brief chat, a waiting crowd was already beating drums and singing songs of praise to God for making the visit possible. After the brief speeches from the High Table in which the Chief Host and some others spoke in praise of Hon Deputy Speaker, the main business of the day kicked off. The Deputy Speaker said that he embarked on the visit in order to present himself to those who had been hearing of Hon Emeka Ihedioha, the green cap man, but had never seen him before. He started his speech by giving a genesis of his political journey from grass to grace.Accoding to his account,he started his political expedition around the 1998/1999 political season. He started by serving as media aide to the Late President of the Senate, DR Chuba Okadigbo. When the controversial Senate President stepped on the banana peelings snd lost power as Senate President, the upwardly mobile EMEKA joined the office of the Vice President, Alhaji Atiku where he worked as an aide to the Vice President in the political wing of the office. It was from this platform that he won the primaries to represent the Aboh Mbaise/Ngor Okpala Federal Constituency in Imo State of Nigeria. He successfully won the constituency from the All Peoples Party(APP) who held the ticket before the election. Since then, Hon EMEKA has successfully retained the ticket for PDP. He first won that seat in 2003.In his first tenure , he was the Chairman of the Prestigious House Committee on Marine Transport. As Chaiman of this Committee, Hon Emeka Ihedioha attracted a capital intensive project of a Jetty at Imo River,Okpala.Those who are travelling to Aba from Owerri can see the Jetty on Imo River at Okpala. The Jetty project is a testimony that a son of Imo State once held sway at the Marine Committee. Since Imo State is regarded as land locked or a vassal Niger Delta State, only a son of the soil in the person of Hon Emeka Ihedioha would have succeeded to deliver the Jetty Project to the Imo/Abia axis. Ordinarily, such projects are usually located in the coastal Niger States of Rivers, Bayelsa and related states. The Jetty project was not only earmarked but can also be eye-marked by whoever goes to Imo River at Okpala. Often what we hear from politicians is that a certain project, say a Jetty, was ear-marked but in the end such a project will never be eye- marked. But for Hon Emeka Ihedioha, all his earmarked projects can also be eye-marked hence he bagged the title of “Omenkeahuru anya of Aboh-Mbaise na Ngor Okpala. Briefly put, a jetty can be defined as a landing stage or small pier at which boats can dock or be moored. It is a protective structure of stone or concrete that extends from the shore into the sea or ocean water to prevent a beach from washing away. So, the jetty project is not an abstract project; it is a project which has a life of its own and can be seen in Imo River at Okpala. In 2007, Hon Emeka won the second term ticket to represent his Aboh Mbaise/Ngor Okpala Constituency on the platform of the PDP.He was Chief Whip of the House in that segment. The Chief Whip is not just a provost in a meeting in a local meeting as most people think; it is a top political office in a legislature which task is to administer the whipping system that ensures that members of the party attend and vote as the party leadership desires. So, it is a top job that can only be given to a tested legislator and good team player whose party loyalty is cast in concrete. The slot cannot be given to a legislator whose loyalty to his party is in doubt or a politician who will very easily abandon his party in search of self aggrandizement or filthy lucre in a rival party. It is not a job for political turncoats or Fifth Columnists in a party who are always defecting from one political party to the other. Hon Emeka Ihedioha was found to be a fit and proper person to occupy this tough and energy-sapping job. When he completed his first tenure and indicated interest in a second tenure, some sections of the political class in his constituency made a case that he should step aside for another person. However, the majority made a case for a second tenure for him on the grounds of his very effective and quality representation in the House .On this issue Hon Emeka Ihedioha said that although his federal constituency is a difficult terrain where you don’t go two times but because of the way he served as a bridge between the members of the constituency coupled with the way he effectively used the opportunities that came his way to empower his constituents and, above all, because of the fairness he manifested in his representation, the people of Ngor OkpaLA/Aboh Mbaise Federal constituency generously gave him the ticket to represent them for a second tenure. He said that his campaign slogan for his second tenure was “One good turn deserves another”. He was victorious in that election thus went ahead to do a second term. When he justified his second tenure and made a move for the third tenure, a section of the constituency had an opposing stance. However, the majority of the people pointed fingers at his achievements and made a case for him to be given one more chance since the reward for good job is more responsibility. His achievements in his first term as Chairman of Marine Transport and his impressiveconstituency projects in his second tenure made a strong case for him to win the election for the third tenure. In the third tenure in the House, some developments took place which caused Hon Emeka Ihedioha to be tipped for the office of the Speaker or to occupy a top office in the House. What happened was that after the election of 2011 in which the PDP lost all the governorship seats in the South West as well as losing virtually all the National Assembly seats to the ACN, the members of the House of Representatives decided to elect their principal officers without any extraneous interventions from the Executive Arm. The House took this decision because the mood of the nation showed there was a need for a House of Representatives which would be independent of manipulations from the Presidency. However, in spite of the fall of PDP in the South West Zone, some top political bigwigs insisted that the Speakership of the House should be zoned to the South West. This decision generated outrage across the nation and the House of Representatives leveraged on this anger to resist any interference from the outside in the appointment of the principal officers of the BLUE Chamber-House of Representatives. This is the political arithmetic that culminated in the emergence of HON Tambuwal and Emeka Ihedioha as Speaker and Deputy Speaker respectively. It is outrageous and despicable that some members of the political class in Imo State have no qualms in accusing Hon Emeka Ihedioha as clinching the job of Deputy Speaker through intrigue and sabotage of the PDP directives. If Hon Emeka Ihedioha had rejected the job, he would have been stigmatized and ostracized by the House members ,more so, when a section of them even made a case for him to be Speaker. Of course, the office would have been zoned to another political zone. Although Hon Emeka Ihedioha devoted quality time to throw light on this issue, I have decided to report it from the information in my data bank. I do not need anybody to educate me on an issue that happened just in 2011 before our very eyes. The bottom line of my submission under this heading is that on the allegation that he became Deputy Speaker via sabotage and sharp practices is a gratuitous insult on the intellect of the responsible members of the political community in Imo State;it’s a cheap blackmail, a hogwash, a gibberish.On this charge, Hon Emeka Ihedioha is discharged and acquitted. I want to appeal to our editors to exercise restraint and professionalism in placing some worthless and toxic viewpoints in their papers. On the allegation that Hon Emeka Ihedioha facilitated the appointment of only Mbaise politicians to Federal Boards and parastatals, he made elaborate clarification to defuse the propaganda. The reasons adduced by Emeka Ihedioha to put the pin in the balloon of the peddlars of rumour were convincing, compelling and unassailable. It is not true that Hon Emeka Ihedioha abused his position by facilitating the board appointment of only Mbaise politicians. In his speech during the interactive session with the audience, he took time to give details of those he facilitated their appointments to Federal Boards. As a result of the paucity of space, I will try to summarize his very long treatise on this issue. Hon Emeka Ihedioha facilitated the Board appointment of Hon Austin Nwachukwu in the Board of Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC).He also appointed Hon Elvis Agukwe as member Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN). He hails from Orlu zone.Another beneficiary is Hon Goodluck Opia, former Speaker of Imo House of Assembly, also Chairman of a Federal Board. He hails from Orlu zone.Dr Alex Obi, a medical doctor cum politician of IKWO OSE fame is also a Board Chairman .He hails from Mbaise. In fact, in his own case, Barrister Olisa Metuh, the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, even made a case for Dr. Alex Obi to be given the post. Another beneficiary is Hon Mike Iheanetu in whom Hon Ihedioha had an interest because he worked hard for the election of Hon Ihedioha. The Deputy Speaker had promised to give him an appointment if he(Hon Emeka) won the election. So, it’s a reward for hard work and tenacity of purpose. So, what is wrong about that? Another beneficiary of Board appointment is Hon Alex Emeziem who is on the Board of Federal Capital Territory (FCT). What happened was that unknown to Hon Emeka Ihedioha, the Minister Federal Capital Territory was compiling a list of Board members for the FCT.It was Hon Alex Emeziem who passed the information to Hon Emeka Ihedioha. Leveraging on this information, Hon Ihedioha made a case to the FCT Minister to be given some slots .He was given only one slot, even though he had asked for about four .As a man who has conscience, Hon Ihedioha passed that single slot to Hon Alex Emeziem as a reward for being eagle-eyed to know that there were Board appointments being processed for FCT. In fact, some other politicians would have given that position to their own family members but Hon Emeka does not belong in that group. So, that is how Alex Emeziem bagged a Board appointment. Perhaps, instead of making hostile comments on Hon Emeka Ihedioha, some of us who are here in Imo State should relocate to Abuja in search of openings for political appointments. Be assured that once you detect such an opening, Hon Ihedioha will go for it and you automatically become a beneficiary.Hon Ihedioha als facilitated the Board appointment of the State acting Chairman of PDP,Chief Nnamdi Anyaehie (from Orlu) in the Board of National Youth Service Commission(NYSC);HE ALSO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE Board appointment of Hon Chuma Nnaji (from orlu) into a Federal Board. Again, he facilitated the Board appointment of Mrs. Comfort Chukwu(Okigwe zone) into a Federal Board. So, precisely put this is an insight into Hon Ihedioha’s role in facilitating Board appointments. It’s unfair to say that the Deputy Speaker ignored the other clans in Imo State while facilitating Board appointments for only Ndi Mbaise. But what is wrong in a situation where a legislator who represents a particular constituency uses his position to help his constituents to secure federal appointments? Hon Emeka Ihedioha also narrated how he used his position to effect the appointment of Hon Omegara as Chairman of a powerful House Committee which supervises inter governmental activities. Hon Omegara is not from Mbaise; he hails from Okigwe zone. The Chairmanship job was given to him on a platter of gold, even though he was a member of the then All Congress of Nigeria (ACN).Again, he made Hon Omegara the leader of the Imo caucus of the House of Representatives. Hon Omegara is one of the three Chairmen of House Committees from Imo State. On Mrs. Mma Onyechere who hails from Okigwe zone, he narrated how the woman enjoyed a consultancy job from the a section of the National Assembly and disappeared into thin air .The next information he heard was that she had joined Governor Okorocha’s Administration as Commissioner. It was on account of such ingratitude that he advised the people of OkIgwe not be wary of those they recommend for appointment into political positions. He said that dependable and reliable people should be recommended when such opportunities became available. Hon Emeka Ihedioha gave extensive account of his profile on constituency projects. It is pertinent to state that Hon Emeka Ihedioha’s achievement’s in the area of Constituency projects are both intimidating and staggering. Perhaps, I want to say without any fear of contradiction that I am not aware of any legislator in IMO State(State or NASS) whose constituency projects can compare with that of Hon Emeka Ihedioha within the period 1999 to date. Even with the scanty records I have in my data bank, I can wager (stake or bet) on this statement. He is”MR Constituency Projects and Youth Empowerment”. Little wonder, he holds a title of OMENKEAFURU ANYA(the veritable doer) of Aboh Mbaise na Ngor- Okpala Federal Constituency and his faithful address him as “Emeka Ihediohamma”. He is a- talk- and- do- politician and his earmarked projects can also be eye-marked . What Emeka Ihedioha has achieved in the area of Constituency projects can only be compared to what the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu is doing in Enugu State. I speak from an informed mind, even though, I have not benefitted from these projects. In journalism, facts are sacred. Although I do not intend to discuss his constituency projects in this review, it is pertinent to state that recently about 50 youths drawn from the 27 LGAs in Imo State graduated from a six- month skill acquisition and empowerment programme from the The Metallurgical Training Institute in Onitsha. The beneficiaries of this programme will never lack food for life. On one occasion, Hon Emeka Emeka Ihedioha sponsored the skill acquisition and empowerment of about 500 youths( male and female) at Villa Maria Owerri.They were all given their start-up kits at the venue. In the same vein, he organized another entrepreneurial empowerment programme for the youths at Federal University of Technology, Entrepreneurial Centre , about two months ago. There are so many of such skills acquisition programmes under the auspices of Hon Emeka Ihedioha’s Constituency projects and they are open to the 27 LGAs of Imo State and not just limited to his Federal Constituency(Aboh Mbaise / Ngor Okpala). I am not aware of any other legislator in Imo State(i.e. from 1999 to date) who has surpassed Hon Emeka Ihedioha in the area of constituency projects and youth empowerment programmes. On the 24th December 2011 or so, a capital intensive project-a power station- attracted by him was commissioned by the former Minister of Power, Professor Barth Nnaji. It is located at Mbutu in his community while another one was also located elsewhere in that federal constituency. It was Hon Emeka Ihedioha who facilitated the capturing of Governor Ikedi Ohakim’s dualization project of Owerri-Elele highway in the Federal Budget. He has assured the populace that adequate funding would be provided for the project. As in all gathering of politicians, there is always the likelihood of launching political salvos in the direction of the enemy camp. In this vein, Hon Emeka Ihedioha advised the delegates from Okigwe zone to use their votes wisely and not to waste it on candidates who lack integrity. Emphasizing that the battle to sack Governor Okorocha was on course , he warned that the first and most important move was to present a candidate who has what it takes to give Governor Okorocha a technical knockout(TKO). Assuring the people that , as governor, his government would not be distracted on giving the best to Imo State, he said:”I am not owing any bank in the country; I have committed no economic crimes for which I may be tried ….” In view of his wide experience in the political arena, he said that he would not have any encumbrances or impediments in transforming Imo State. He said that his wide network of contacts in all parts of the country would enable him to get things done with effortless ease for the uplift of Imo State. In the same vein, he emphasized that with his 12 years experience as legislator, he was in a better position to know how to galvanize and synergize with the legislature, the executive arms as well as other critical clusters in order to achieve a timely transformation of the State to an Imo State of our dream, more so, since he is in sync with the critical levers of power in the country. Some of the dignitaries who graced the occasion include the host and former Deputy Governor for eight years(1999-2007), Engineer Ebere Udeagu, Hon Prince Obinna Okwara, Hon Ngozi Pat Ekeji,Hon Jones Onyeriri, Hon Oliver Enwerenem, Professor Obinna Ihedoro,Chief Okee Ikoro, Chief Evaristus Idumukwu, Dr Mrs. Rose Onumaeme,former Chairman of Obowo LGA ,Lady Nkechi Mbonu who was described by Hon Ihedioha as a reliable and dependable lady who should be encouraged Dr Philip Ukaegbu,Chief J.C Onuoha. Others include Hon Basil Ekweke from Obowo,Hon Greg Owuamalam, Hon Alex Emeziem. The various dignitaries took turns to pour encomiums and platitudes on Hon Ihedioha who they described as a dependable and trust worthy party member and a strong tower of financial strength to the PDP at both the State and national levels. Finally, as the “ MR Constituency Project and Youth empowerment” that he is, Hon Ihedioha did not disappoint as he lavished executive largesse and goodies to his hosts amid a rousing ovation and applause by the sea of humanity who graced the occasion. John Mgbe 08032722897 johnmgbe@yahoo
Posted on: Tue, 03 Jun 2014 20:20:31 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015