The Speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon Acho Ihim and 18 other members of the House, Thursday on the floor of the House, defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Action Alliance (AA).
With the defection, the AA now controls the majority of the 27-member Assembly with 19 members, while the APC has three members and the PDP zero.
Five APC members were earlier suspended and have not been recalled.
Addressing the plenary, the Speaker, disclosed that the defection of the Lawmakers was as a result of the crisis that bedeviled the APC primaries in the State.
According to him; “after the injustice that was meted to our members by the National Chairman of our party, the APC, some of our members went to another party to actualize their ambitions. They wrote me a letter through Ikechukwu Amuka, expressing their intentions and today I want to officially announce that 17 members of the House have officially defected to AA.
“It is interesting to note that PDP members also moved to AA, Speaker and I have no choice than to join the majority by dumping the APC for AA”.
The defectors were Ikechukwu Amuka (Ideato South) Arthur Egwim (Ideato North), Obinna Egwu (Ngor-Okpalla) Chinedu Offor, (Onuimo), Uju Onwudiwe (Njaba), Mike Iheanetu (Aboh Mbaise), Victor Onyewuchi (Owerri West), Ken Agbim (Ahiazu) and Bruno Okuoha (Wzinihitte).
Others were Lyod Chukwuemeka (Owerri West), Kennedy Ibe (Obowo), Henry Ezediaro (Oguta), Lugard Osuji (Owerri Municipal) and the Speaker, Rt. Hon Acho Ihim (Okigwe).
The defected Lawmakers however reiterated their commitment to the reelection of President Muhammadu Buhari, adding that he has delivered on his campaign promises and has proved to be an honest leader.
The Majority Leader of the House, Hon Lugard Osuji, in his speech, noted that the National Chairman of the APC robbed the people of the State by hijacking the party structure and handed it over to “rascals”.
He said, “Our defection does not affect our support for President Buhari, we are going to work for his reelection. We only left the APC because of the injustice done to us by the National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole”.
