A federal legislator, Hon Bede Eke has taken a close look at the 12 years of the former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Emeka Ihedioha, describing it as a wasted period in the annals of Aboh Mbaise/Ngor/Okpala Federal Constituency.
Eke, who currently represents the Federal Constituency asserted that considering the long period Ihedioha stayed and the principal positions he occupied, his performance was less than stellar.
He submitted that Ihedioha particularly shortchanged the Ngor/Okpala component of the federal constituency by denying it of juicy board chairmanship and membership appointments.
According to him, Ihedioha got about 20 board chairmanship and 40 membership slots but nominated no indigene of Ngor/Okpala Local Government Area for the positions.
Eke explained that the membership of Board of Imo-River Basin Authority which he got was the slot of the party ceded to him by Hon. Blyden Amajirionwu.
He said he followed Ihedioha and tried all he could to make him mend his ways, adding that even when the people of Ngor/Okpala LGA rejected him in 2011, he and Hon Amajirionwu had to prevail on the leaders of the council area to give him a chance.
Eke is piqued by the so-called popularity of the former governor in respect of the governorship ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and his sponsorship of the party.
According to the lawmaker, what Ihedioha does is to order others to donate money without him donating a dime to the party.
He revealed that the PDP members of National Assembly have been the ones sponsoring the party in Imo State while Ihedioha continues to claim he has no job having lost the governorship seat in 2020.
Eke further disclosed that the PDP members of the House of Representatives were contributing N500,000 each monthly while Senator Ezenwa Onyewuchi was contributing N1million for the upkeep of the party.
The lawmaker recalled that during a fundraising ceremony organized by the Imo PDP, Ihedioha simply seized the microphone and begun to order people to make donations while he donated nothing.
At the fundraiser, Eke said Ihedioha announced a donation of N2.5million on his behalf without prior discussion.
The lawmaker asserted that he had done his best as representative of the federal constituency in the last eight years, stressing that there is no ward in Ngor/Okpala LGA that does not boast of one project he attracted.
He stated that one of his biggest projects, a civic centre is nearing completion in Mbutu, hometown of the former governor.
He said; “I have done my best, there is no ward in Ngor/Okpala that doesn’t have a project, I’m building a civic centre in Mbutu and installed solar light at Health Centre there, I m doing these projects without being chairman of any committee.
“Without his positions first as Chief Whip and deputy speaker, Ihedioha could not construct the Ulakwo-Imerienwe-Eche Road even when he has his farm there; he couldn’t tar it. The road keeps occurring in the national budget when he was in the House of Representatives.
“He refused to do the road because he buys land there as cheap as N50,000; he doesn’t want land there to appreciate”.
Eke equally revealed that Ihedioha does not want any other person to equal his record of 12 years at the House of Representatives, reason he said, the former lawmaker opposed his candidature of the PDP in this year’s election.
But he submitted that the PDP has no candidate for the Aboh Mbaise/Ngor/Okpala Federal Constituency poll holding on Saturday, February 25, 2023.
According to him, the issue for determination on March 3, 2023 by the Supreme Court is whether there should be a rerun poll in the federal constituency to pick the candidate of the party.
He reason that even if the apex court rules that a rerun poll be conducted, such a poll cannot be conducted after the main election.
