The Leadership Award was presented to the immediate past Speaker of Abia State, Rt Hon Chinedum Enyinnaya Orji FNSE, FNICE by the Inter-Party Advisory Council, IPAC, a body of all registered political parties in Nigeria on Wednesday, 20th December 2023 at the Michael Okpara Auditorium, Umuahia was an incontrovertible endorsement of the leadership style of Ikukuoma Abia as the former Speaker is fondly called by his admirers, a leadership style founded on competence and built on compassion for the people.

The Award consolidates the fact that the impact of quality leadership should transcend public office and that no matter the opposition one faces while in office, time shall always exonerate them from the stance of naysayers.

Verifiable statistics show that Rt Hon Chinedum Enyinnaya Orji has, by far not only the highest number of constituency projects by any state Lawmaker since the creation of Abia State but also projects that have made the most impact in the life of the people.

Through his famous Direct Touch Initiative, an Initiative he founded to cut out the meddlesome activities of middlemen who often shortchange the people in the execution of projects or distribution of facilities, Orji’s determination to be a true representative of the people and improve their welfare could be seen in his execution of projects and provision of facilities even beyond his immediate constituency.

In his time as a Lawmaker in the State (2015 – 2023), Chinedum Orji who is also a professionally trained engineer from the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), certified up to the highest level by the foremost umbrella Engineering body in Nigeria, the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), and the Nigerian Institution of Civil Engineers (NICE), has his indelible imprints of people-oriented projects cutting across Umuahia Central, his immediate community and beyond.

From the renovation of the Abia State House of Assembly Complex to a world-class complex, through water, road, power, mini-stadium and school projects to free eye/medical outreaches, scholarships to youths, training and empowerment of over 500 youths in ICT, start-up capital and distribution of empowerment items to young entrepreneurs, gifting of vehicles/tricycles to youths, donation of industrial cassava milling machines to communities, among several others, Rt Hon Chinedum Enyinnaya Orji is a goldfish that has no hiding place in the reckoning of objective analysts and people of goodwill including IPAC.

On the lawmaking front, Rt Hon Chinedum Enyinnaya Orji led the 7th Abia State House of Assembly to pass truly people-friendly laws and motions which also helped to put the state in the national limelight for positive reasons.

For example, the Assembly passed H.A.B 3, The Abia State Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Law on the 3rd of December, 2019. This law protects vulnerable members of society from all forms of violence and abuse including political violence, cultism-related violence, spousal abuse, child abuse, abuse against domestic help, etc.

Also, the 7th Assembly was the first State Assembly in the entire Federation to pass the Abia State Diaspora Commission Law on the 22nd of March, 2021, a law which was tailored to complement the efforts of the Nigerian Diaspora Commission, NIDCOM. This law provides for the protection of the investments of Abians in the diaspora who decide to invest back home. It is a confidence booster for investors in the state, and the result of such a Law is already visible with the rising number of investors and potential ones who have expressed willingness and readiness to invest in the state.

Similarly, as a true democrat, Rt Hon Chinedum Enyinnaya Orji contributed in no small measure to the promotion of democracy and its tenets in the country as he led the 7th Assembly to be the first to complete the 5th Alteration of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic via H.A.B 57 passed on the 8th of June, 2022, as part of steps for the much-needed restructuring of the country, thereby leading to full financial and administrative autonomy for:
i. State Legislature
ii. Judiciary and
iii. Local Government.

Furthermore, the House had three years earlier, before the intervention of the National Assembly, taken its destiny into its own hands by courageously passing H.A.B. 1, The Abia State House of Assembly Service Commission, on the 16th of July 2019, thereby paving the way for their independence as an arm of government.

Perhaps arguably the most significant of the laws passed by Rt Hon Chinedum Enyinnaya Orji and his colleagues are H.A.B. 23, The Abia State Law for the Establishment of a Commission for Disabled Persons, passed on the 31st of August, 2022; and H.A.B. 61, The Abia State Law for Female Persons Right of Inheritance of Property.

These two laws marked a watershed in the history of lawmaking in the state as they give special provisions and protection to our fellow citizens in the state living with disabilities in the case of H.A.B. 23, and guarantee the right of females to inherit properties as in H.A.B 61, thereby putting Abia State among advanced nations that since banished gender inequality and promote equal rights for both males and females in our society.

Scores of other equally relevant laws for the good governance of Abia State were passed by the Assembly but time and space would not permit us to mention them here.

It was therefore not surprising that IPAC, a Council of all registered political parties in Abia State, found Rt Hon Chinedum Enyinnaya Orji worthy to be bestowed with the EXEMPLARY LEADERSHIP AWARD for his innumerable and inestimable contributions to the growth of democracy, promotion of good governance and impactful initiatives on the people’s welfare, at its celebration of 100 years of political parties in Nigeria tagged “Centenary Political Party Celebration”.

Rt Hon Chinedum Enyinnaya Orji remains committed to these ideals even outside public office as he continues to impact life and society in several ways and has remained a household name among Abians across age, gender, class, ethnicity, and status.

Jude Chijioke Ndukwe
Spokesperson to Rt Hon Chinedum Enyinnaya Orji FNSE, FNICE

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