The Abia State Peoples Democratic Party has vehemently criticized the delay in inaugurating Aaron Uzodike as the representative for the Aba North State Constituency.
Uzodike was re-elected and subsequently issued a Certificate of Return by the Independent National Electoral Commission on December 13, 2023, following a court order.
This situation has been compounded by the assurances of Emmanuel Emeruwa, the Speaker of the Abia State House of Assembly. Emeruwa, in a press briefing marking the first year of the 8th Abia House of Assembly, stated that the House was progressing towards Uzodike’s swearing-in. He explained that the delay was due to ongoing legal challenges from both Uzodike and his opponent, Destiny Nwagwu of the Labour Party.
Despite these assurances, the Vice Chairman of the PDP, Abraham Amah, expressed his frustration in an interview with Saturday PUNCH. Amah highlighted the discrepancy between the treatment of Uzodike and other political figures in similar situations. He noted that members from other political parties who were declared winners by the Court of Appeal had already been inaugurated at the national level.
Amah condemned the delay as a breach of democratic principles, demanding immediate action to address the issue. He pointed out the inconsistency by saying, “It is a government that creates room for checks and balances. Are you aware that one of the cases handled by the Appeal Court involved a member of the state House of Assembly, representing Aba North State Constituency? This is almost more than seven months after the Court of Appeal gave judgment, Aaron Uzodike.
“We asked that Aaron Uzodike should be declared winner and directed INEC, which is the umpire responsible for managing that election, to issue a certificate of return for Aaron Uzodike. It did not take one week for INEC to comply with the directive of the Court of Appeal.
“Then seven months later, the government has yet to allow Aaron Uzodike to be inaugurated in the House of Assembly. So, what type of government is that?
“If you go to the centre, they put the lower and the upper house, the Senate and the House of Representatives have inaugurated the non-All Progressives Congress members who were declared winners by the same Court of Appeal.
“They have inaugurated them. Even when such declarations were against the interests of APC, such persons have been inaugurated.”
