Group demands declaration of Aba North Assembly seat vacant, threatens protest

A group known as the Coalition of Aba North Ethnic Youth Groups has mandated the Speaker of Abia State House of Assembly, Emmanuel Emereuwa to declare the Aba North seat vacant in seven days.

The Aba North seat has been a subject of controversy since November 27, 2023, when the Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos sacked Destiny Nwagwu of LP and declared Aaron Uzodike of the PDP, the duly elected member to represent Aba North.

However, the seat has remained unoccupied since November 2023, as Uzodike of PDP has not been inaugurated by the Speaker, despite his several appeals.

A fresh controversy erupted Friday, as the Coalition of Aba North Ethnic Youths Groups, asked the Speaker to declare the seat vacant within seven days or expect a city-wide protest in Aba.

A protest letter signed by the leader of the group, Uka Matthew and some other members in Aba, said they have been without a representative in the Abia State House of Assembly for six months now and therefore, cannot continue to remain without a voice.

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The Coalition also insisted that the March 18, 2024, House of Assembly election was won by Destiny Nwagwu of LP and not Aaron Uzodike of the PDP who won his case at the Appeal court.

Ukah Mathew threatened that members of the Coalition will protest in the streets of Aba if the Abia Speaker refuses to honour their ultimatum by declaring the Aba North seat vacant.

“We are calling on our brother the Speaker to do the needful and declare the ABA North State constituency seat vacant so that INEC can conduct a fresh election. We voted for Destiny Nwagwu, we cannot allow Aaron who lost even in his polling unit to represent us”, the group’s leader, Uka Matthew said.

Newspot recalls that a group of traditional rulers from the Aba North constituency last month, made a similar call by telling the Speaker to declare the Aba North seat vacant, alleging that Aaron Uzodike of the PDP was battling ill health.

But Uzodike, while speaking to Journalists in Umuahia in April, said he was healthy, sound and ever ready to represent his people if sworn in, even as he described the traditional rulers who made the call as imposters hired from other constituencies.