Somtochukwu Udeze, the member representing Ogbaru II Constituency in the Anambra State House of Assembly, has been elected speaker of the assembly.
Mr Udeze was elected by 30 members of the eighth assembly at the House of Assembly Complex in Awka, according to a report by the Vanguard.
The new speaker is a third-term member of the assembly.
He was first elected lawmaker in the assembly in 2015 on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) but later defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), under which he won re-election to the House in 2019.
Mr Udeze also won the 18 March House of Assembly election under the PDP for the third time but thereafter returned to APGA two weeks before the inauguration of the eighth assembly.
The assembly comprises 17 APGA members, seven Labour Party members, three PDP members and three Young Progressives Party members.
Mr Udeze’s defection from the PDP to APGA happened shortly after a meeting between the lawmakers and Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State.
The governor and leadership of the APGA, the ruling party in the state, had embarked on a search for a speaker from Anambra North District, where the assembly speaker was expected to come from.
The new speaker hails from the district.
Mr Soludo hails from Anambra South District, while his Deputy, Onyekachukwu Ibezim, comes from Anambra Central District.
Nomination
Mr Udeze was nominated for the position by the member representing Ekwusigo Constituency, Ikenna Ofodeme, and seconded by the member representing Awka North, Chimezie Ikwunne.
During the House election, which also had Mr Soludo in attendance, the member representing the Awka South II Constituency, Chukwuma Okoye, emerged as the deputy speaker of the House following a voice vote by the lawmakers.
Messrs Udeze and Okoye were sworn in by the acting Clerk of the House, Esther Aneto, who also decorated the new speaker.
Speaking after his election, Mr Udeze described the eighth assembly as one that was above “party loyalty and affiliation.”
He said the lawmakers would hit the ground running, adding that the tasks before them were challenging and therefore needed all hands to be on deck.
“Contrary to the notion in some quarters that the assembly is established to be at loggerhead with the executive arm of government, this eighth assembly would foster good relationship with the executive and the judiciary arms of government based on mutual respect for each other and for the growth of Anambra State.
“Granted that the eighth assembly has four political parties represented here, but irrespective of party affiliation and loyalty, we must face the task put before us by the Anambra electorate and not party loyalty,” Mr Udeze said.
Soludo speaks
Addressing the lawmakers, Mr Soludo urged them to see their task as one with the same goal as that of the state executive in building a liveable and prosperous state.
“This is a new partnership and new arrangement and one common goal for the 8th Assembly, and we do not have 30 balls or 30 goal posts but one ball and one goal post,” he said.
“Yes, we have four political parties in this 8th assembly, but we don’t have four goalposts or four balls. We have applied for governor and assembly membership, and we have been employed by our people to serve.
“We do not have four political parties in this assembly, but only one party and that is Anambra people, and that is Anambra assembly,” the governor added.
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