Lawyer threatens to remove Abia Speaker over delays in swearing in PDP lawmaker-elect
By Steve Oko
Lagos based lawyer and two-time Commissioner in Abia State, Mr James Okpara, has told the Speaker of the Abia State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Emmanuel Emeruwa, to “immediately swear in the Aba North constituency member- elect, Hon. Aaron Uzodike, or be removed from office”.
Okpara who is one of the frontrunners for the forthcoming Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, chairmanship race in the state, made the threat in a statement he issued in Umuahia.
The PDP chieftain insisted that the Speaker had no justifiable excuse to be delaying Uzodike’s inauguration months after the Court of Appeal had declared him duly elected, and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, issued him with Certificate of Return.
” Emeruwa must swear in Aaron Uzodike or be removed from office”, he threatened, while calling on the Speaker to resign if he “is not worthy to occupy this exalted office “
The statement made available to Wawa News Global further read:”The unlawful and unjustified refusal of the Speaker of Abia State House of Assembly to swear in Hon Aaron Uzodike the duly elected member representing Aba North State Constituency is mind boggling and befuddling. Hon Uzodike went through the whole process of litigation after election and finally the Court of Appeal which is the apex court in election matters for the declared him the winner and INEC gave him the Certificate of Return.
“In any decent and lawful society, the next action would have been his swearing in. For the past seven months, but the Speaker of Abia State House of Assembly has bluntly refused to do his job by not swearing in Hon Aaron Uzodike who is the duly elected member of Abia State House of Assembly for Aba North State Constituency.
“There is no litigation, lawful or constitutional impediment stopping the swearing in of Hon Aaron Uzodike by the Speaker. What the Speaker is doing in refusing to swear in Aaron Uzodike is brazen lawlessness, gross dereliction of his duties and unbridled arrogance.
” The contempt that the Speaker has for all norms of decency and legislative behaviour is unparalleled in the comity of states.
“The Speaker by his actions, has denied the people of Aba North State Constituency representation in the Abia State House of Assembly which is their undeniable constitutional right.”
The former Commissioner for Housing and Legal Matters, respectively, also knocked the Speaker over the recent humiliation of a journalist who was allegedly sent out of a press conference to be addressed by the Speaker at the Assembly complex.
“In the same vein, duly accredited journalists to the Abia State House of Assembly were ordered out of a press conference to be addressed by the Speaker without any reason or explanation.
“The reason for this draconian and autocratic action can not be divorced from the fact that the said journalists and their employer have been engaging in fair and objective comments.
“Democracy requires accountability and if you do not like heat, do not enter the kitchen.”
The Speaker, had, however, denied any involvement in the alleged humiliation of the Journalist, Mr Kingsley of Enyimba TV and Radio, Aba.
Steve Oko, Publisher/C.E.O, WaWa News Global. For more information on advert placement and news coverage, contact us on: 08038725600, or via email stevemanofgod2000@yahoo.com; wawanewsglobal@gmail.com Always read WaWa News Global - Your most dependable online news platform for the latest breaking news in Nigeria. 
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