Abia Assembly Backs Otti’s Reform Agenda, Passes 5 Bills into Law

*Gives Innoson 14 Days ultimatum to supply vehicles or refund money

Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia

The Eighth Abia State House of Assembly has passed five bills into law out of the15 bills it received for consideration in the first year of its legislative life.
Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Emmanuel Emeruwa, made this known, Thursday, while briefing journalists on the achievements of the legislature which was inaugurated on June 14, 2023.

He listed the bills passed into law to include the 2023 Appropriation Bill, Greater Aba Development Authority (GADA) Bill, 2024 Appropriation Bill, the Governor and Deputy Governor Pension Review Bill, and the Medicine and Health Commodities Bill.
Emeruwa said the outstanding bills have passed either first or second reading and would be passed in due course, adding that the House has within the period under review treated 46 petitions, raised 55 motions and passed 50 resolutions.
He stated that the bills were passed into law without rancour as members of the House had already reached agreements before the bills were presented on the floor.

“Our interest is to reform the state and create enabling environment for businesses to grow,” he said, adding that this mindset informed the maximum support the lawmakers have been giving to the state governor, Alex Otti.
The Speaker, flanked by 17 members of the House, including the Deputy Speaker, Rt. Hon. Austin Okezie, acknowledged that the Eighth Abia State legislature had initial hiccups after inauguration.

However, he said that the divisive “issues were short-lived” as members had resolved them without delay in the interest of the people they represent.
He said: “The fact that we do our things seamlessly doesn’t mean that we don’t disagree. But we play our politics behind the scene”.
Emeruwa revealed that members of the Eighth Abia House were yet to be issued with official vehicles a year after inauguration, saying that Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing (IVM) Company was to blame.

According to him, the House had decided to patronise IVM following Governor Otti’s policy of encouraging indigenous companies, adding that the company “has received all the money for the vehicles (but) has not been able to supply the vehicles after one year”.
He, therefore, issued a two-week ultimatum to Innoson to supply the vehicles as agreed, warning that “this House has been patient enough. He has to produce the vehicles within the month or give us our money back”.

On the non-representation of Aba North State Constituency in the House, the Speaker said that a political solution would soon be used to resolve the issues that have delayed the swearing in of Hon. Aaron Uzodike to take his seat.
He absolved himself from blame over Uzodike’s travails, saying that a date had been fixed for the Aba North lawmaker to take his oath of office after his victory at the Appeal Court only for an interlocutory court injunction to be served on the Speaker.

“I could not flout Court injunction, whether it was in order or not,” the Speaker Emeruwa said, adding that Uzodike compounded issues by going to Appeal Court Abuja to file forms 48 and 49 seeking to commit him to prison for alleged disobedience of court order.
In his remarks, the Deputy Speaker said that the actions of the House has always been dictated by the desire to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people of Abia.
“We handle our differences behind the scene because we understand the enormity of the expectations on us,” he said, adding that “once we cross the gate, we see ourselves as one, irrespective of party platforms”.