8th Abia Assembly: Be Wary of Erondu Jnr, Group Advises Alex Otti

An Abia based sociopolitical organisation, Good Governance Initiative (GGI) has urged the Governor-Elect of Abia State, Dr Alex Otti to pay more than a passing attention to who becomes Speaker of the incoming 8th Assembly of the state, saying he should be wary of characters like Erondu Jnr “who is known to have destructive antecedents”.

The group stated this in a press statement signed by its Convener, Comrade Uche Uka and its Secretary, Comrade (Mrs) Joy Wachuku, and made available to newsmen in Umuahia on Tuesday.

It urged Dr Alex Otti to set machinery in motion to support a candidate for the Speakership of the Assembly who will not be a hindrance to his good governance agenda for Abia State, reminding him that “this has been the practice even at the Federal level”.

The group further implored him to be wary of those who are already disrupting the sociopolitical stability of the state by sponsoring elements to destabilise the current 7th Assembly with a view to installing lawmakers who will be amenable to changing the rules of the House that allows only ranking members to contest for Speakership of the state Assembly.

“The overzealousness and desperation shown in the last few days by Mr Erondu Uchenna Erondu Jnr who has not hidden his ambition to be Speaker of Abia State despite that he is going to be a first time lawmaker is a cause for worry for Abians of goodwill.

“Apart from his alleged sponsorship of the failed impeachment attempt on the current Speaker, we are aware that Erondu has been holding meetings outside the State including the ones in Owerri where he is said to have been distributing dollars to some of the newly elected lawmakers.

“As if that was not enough, we are also aware of reports that his next step is to hire witch doctors to administer a diabolical oath of allegiance and loyalty on some of the elected lawmakers in a bid to get their support to suspend the concerned House rule so he could have his way.

“We are concerned that such oath, if administered, will make the lawmakers loyal to Erondu rather than to the State, and this could spell disaster for Dr Alex Otti.

“We therefore call on lawmakers-elect in the state not to allow themselves to be led into the dark arts of the underworld just to align with the inordinate ambition of a disruptive fellow.

“For Abians to enjoy political stability and a peaceful environment which are prerequisites for the success of the incoming administration, and anyone for that matter, Erondu Jnr who is so desperate to become Speaker so as to use the office to hold the incoming government of Dr Alex Otti to ransom to prevent any form of scrutiny on him, must not be allowed anywhere near the Speakership.

“The hallowed chamber of the Abia State House of Assembly is for honourable men and women, and not for misfits who have accidentally found themselves in the corridors of power and are grossly misusing such rare opportunities.

“We therefore urge Abians to support our cause in seeing that dishonourable men do not ascend the Speakership of the state and use it to hold the incoming administration to ransom”, the statement concluded.