The speaker of Imo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon Barr Kennedy Ibeh has debunked the story, making rounds that APC is set to lose majority of the house, even as the purported news stated that some members of the legislative house, are about to decamp to LP and APGA.

In a statement signed by his Chief press Secretary, I feanyi Onyekachi, the report was described as a fairy tale of some local journalists struggling for attention in the industry. Below, is the full text of press statement, made available by the speaker’s media team:

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Re-APC To Lose Majority In Imo Assembly, As Members Join Labour Party, APGA For 2023 Election

“The attention of the media team of the Speaker, Imo State House of Assembly, Rt Hon. Barr Kennedy Chidozie Ibeh, has been drawn to a spurious front page publication in Trumpeta of Thursday, August edition titled: APC To Lose Majority In Imo Assembly, As Members Join Labour Party, APGA, For 2023 Election”.

“Our first instinct was to ignore the purely speculative falsehood from the stable of Trumpeta Newspaper, because the local tabloid has not hidden its intention to constitute itself into an attack dog of the opposition party and to denigrate anything that is associated with All.Progressive Congress Party (APC), including running down Imo State House of Assembly which is obviously dominated by APC members”

“That is why in its attempt to tarnish the image of the repositioned Imo State House of Assembly, those behind the Newspaper, in the figment of their imaginations placed the pictures of those they assumed to have defected to other political parties and included that of the Rt. Hon. Speaker, Rt. Hon. Barr Kennedy Chidozie Ibeh.

But for the purposes of clarification and to set the record straight we wish to state as follows:

1. It is against all known journalistic ethics for a newspaper house to spew lies and publish unverifiable report just to satisfy some opposition politicians who are probably paying their bills .
2. Contrary to their report that,” the chances of Imo State chapter of the All Progressive Congress Party in the State House of Assembly appears slim as lawmakers wearing the toga of the party begin to diminish”, we wish to state that APC is in firm grip and maintains a higher lead in the membership of Imo State House of Assembly.
3. In their quick but uncalculated attempt to ridicule Imo State House of Assembly, they listed six members as those who have defected to other parties, yet claimed that the House has lost majority. Even if we concede to their lies for the purpose of this argument, one would imagine how six members constitutes majority in a House where we have 27 members.
   This therefore exposes the penchant of Trumpeta Newspaper to ridicule Imo State House of Assembly whenever it pleases it to do so.
4. The major sham in the report is that it placed the photograph of Mr Speaker in the front page of the publication among the defectors, while the content of their news story suggests otherwise.
5. We therefore wish to state categorically that the Speaker, Rt Hon. Kennedy Chidozie Ibeh, with the support of other principal members of the House, are in firm control of Imo State House of Assembly.
6. We call on Trumpeta to shun practices that are inimical to growth and development of our society and journalism”

Signed
Ifeanyi Onyekachi
Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker
iMHA.