In the era of political mobility, members of the Imo State House of Assembly, have shown their willingness to jump ship from one party to the other, the moment the executive seat changes hands.
When Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha was sworn in as Govenror of Imo State, many of the Assembly members, including the sacked Speaker Chiji Collins, dumped the All Progressives Grand Alliance APGA, and the All Progressives Congress APC, that brought them to power, and jumped into the PDP.
Chiji was rewarded with the position of Speaker of the House. They all started singing the praises of Ihedioha, immediately they ported to PDP.
Even the present Speaker, Emeziem, who won his election into the State Assembly through the help of the APGA Govenroship candidate, Senator Ifeanyi Araraume, also dumped the party, and since his appointment as Speaker, and his desire to stay close to Uzodinma, had denied Araraume’s involvement in getting him to the State Assembly.
Interestingly, following the Supreme Court verdict that removed Ihedioha, and installed Senator Hope Uzodinma, almost all of them, who had previously jumped into PDP, including all the six members from Okigwe Zone who came under APGA, jumped into the APC, and started singing the praises of Uzodinma.
As the Philip Umeadi case draws nearer, with a very high chance, that Hope Uzodinma may be shown the way out, if he cannot prove beyond reasonable doubt, how he became the APC candidate, after the same Supreme Court had declared Uche Nwosu, the authentic candidate of the party, we may yet again witness a fresh series of cross carpeting and decampment to the PDP, if Ihedioha is returned as the Govenror of Imo State.
Imo people and the world, are now watching to see how the Supreme Court would rule over the matter, as the matter seems very clear cut.
“This is Nigeria,” a political analyst and Evangelist Maazi Obinna Akuwudike said. “They may find even a way that is no where near reasonable, to try and embarrass this country and our judicial system the more. Let’s fold our hands and watch them.”
