A great political upheaval is about to occur in Imo State as the party lineage of members of the Imo State House of Assembly begins to tumble with some members defecting to APC.
As at the time of this report, Trumpeta exclusively gathered that not less than eight lawmakers mainly of the APGA have concluded arrangements to cross-carpet to APC leaving about five behind. With these developments, PDP that are about 13 in number would definitely emerge the majority party in the State Assembly.
The development has forced temporal postponement of plenary session by members who would have resumed on Tuesday for full time business after the Christmas and New Year break.
On resumption for plenary on Tuesday, anti-riot policemen caused tension and uneasy calm in the premises with members keeping away from the Assembly Complex. Same scenario was witnessed yesterday when the state legislatures deserted the complex and preferred to a hurriedly arranged meeting at the private home of the Speaker.
Signs that the 2014 would be appearing a rancorous year for the legislators appeared early this month when five aggrieved members went to court to stop any process that would declare their seats vacant based on a purported letter they reportedly wrote and signed resigning their positions as elected members of their respective constituencies. As part of an earlier partnership, with the governor sometime last year, the members were said to have entered an agreement which forced them to deposit their resignation letters to the governor and House leadership. The bubble however got burst when some of the members of APGA extraction refused to join the governor declare for APC. At a meeting of the lawmakers, five concerned ones categorically disclosed their rejection of APC by preferring to remain in APGA. Their decision to stick to APGA informed the return of the resignation letters saga. To avoid the associated embarrassment and sack threat against them by the governor, the affected lawmakers went to court and the Speaker has been served on the matter which hinges of stopping anybody from declaring their seats vacant based on the resignation letters.
Apparently aware of the adverse effects should the APGA family break into two which would reduce APC and APGA strengths in the House, the leadership of the State Assembly under Uwajumogu not only moved with security men but also suspended resumption indefinitely to avoid impeachments and unwarranted developments.
To survive the heat, the leadership of the House is working in tandem with few Okorocha sympathizers and possible APC joiners from PDP to suspend the uncompromising APGA lawmakers.
Trumpeta learnt that there is a deliberate ploy by the leadership of the House and few surrogates of the governor to manufacture phantom tales as allegation for the purposes of sanctioning the anti-APC lawmakers wearing APGA garb. Several meetings have been held in this regard and some PDP lawmakers especially those promised 2015 ticket either to return to the House or go to Federal House have been hooked to execute the suspension order on the anti APC lawmakers. The plan to mow down the five APGA lawmakers is to bar them from joining PDP which would automatically increase the number of the party in the House thereby torpedoing APC supremacy.
Before this development, APGA was maintaining slim majority. Loosing about five members as it transforms to APC will make it the minority party in the House.
Trumpeta was reliably informed that the Speaker is running from pillar to post to get the support and confidence of all the members irrespective of party differences. The meeting at his residence which some members boycotted was aimed at seeking support of reliable allies to keep his job as well as push for the suspension of anti APC lawmakers.
Already, some PDP lawmakers in body but Okorocha in soul have been contacted and pleaded to endorse the suspension. One from Orlu Zone (names withheld) who is incharge of a legislative/Executive Joint Committee of government project is under threat to do the bid of the APC or lose the plum position. Two lawmakers of PDP facing rejection from PDP at their LGA levels scrumptiously have joined to work against the interest of the anti-APC lawmakers.
Our newspapers however gathered late yesterday after the meeting at his lodge that a reasonable amount of money has passed hand among the lawmakers with the anti-APC lawmakers highly favoured. A worried Uwajumogu who is battling to save his position it was learnt pleaded and went further to grease the palm of the APC lawmakers to move en masse with his to APC inorder to maintain majority status.
The aggrieved anti-APC lawmakers who initially rejected the invitation to attend the meeting at the Speaker’s home however turned up and later left the place smiling and in happy mood.
