Leaders of the All Progressives Congress an Imo State are lobbying more lawmakers from the Peoples Democratic Party to join the ruling party, our correspondent learnt on Wednesday.
This is even as the race for who emerges the next deputy speaker of the state House of Assembly hots up following Okey Onyekanma’s resignation.
Nine lawmakers had on Tuesday defected to the APC from the PDP and the Action Alliance.
The PUNCH learnt that more lawmakers have joined the race to become the next deputy speaker.
Our correspondent learnt that all the lawmakers who defected to the APC from Orlu zone are eyeing the deputy speaker’s position.
The deputy speaker is expected to come from Orlu zone where the new governor of the state, Hope Uzodinma, comes from, according to the zoning arrangement in the house.
Onyekanma had cited the zoning arrangement as part of the reasons he resigned as the deputy speaker.
He had said, in his resignation letter which was read during plenary by the Speaker, Collins Chiji, that his resignation would pave the way for one of his colleagues from Orlu zone to succeed him.
Our correspondent learnt that the APC wants to constitute the majority in the house, hence the need for more lawmakers from the main opposition party to join it.
The PDP currently has 16 lawmakers while the APC has 10 lawmakers with one seat vacant following a Court of Appeal’s judgment which nullified the election of Uju Onwudiwe and ordered a rerun in some polling units in the Njaba State Constituency.
Punch
