August 15, (THEWILL) –Â The speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Hon. Ikuinyi Ibani, is not in the good books of some members of his constituency. The bone of contention, THEWILL gathered, is so serious that it is feared that he may lose the goodwill of the people of Andoni who he aims to represent in the National Assembly in 2023.
Ibani first came into power in 2007 after he was elected member of the State House of Assembly representing Andoni Constituency in River States. He served for two terms between 2007 and 2015. He was appointed Chief Whip of the House in 2015 and later became Speaker. However, he voluntarily resigned as Speaker personal grounds. He was re-elected in 2019 under the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), representing Andoni Constituency of River State. Members of his constituency have accused the lawmaker of not living up to expectations. As the third most senior citizen of Rivers who has been in power for over a decade, he has not used his influence to bring adequate development to Andoni despite the fact that he has been in a position to bring goodwill to the people of his constituency. But the people have lamented the poor state of infrastructure in the constituency.
In a video that has been circulating on the Internet, some of Ibani’s constituents accused him of turning a blind eye to the deplorable roads within the constituency. One of the major concerns of his critics is the neglect of the Andoni end of the Ogoni-Andoni-Opobo-Nkoro Unity Road.
Governor Nyesome Wike had in 2021 commissioned the Opobo end of the Ogoni-Andoni-Opobo/Nkoro Unity Road, amid pomp and circumstance,because of the number of years the road was neglected despite the fact that contractors were paid to fix it. However, the neglected part has become a death trap for travellers. The affected portion of the road has also become a regular haunt of kidnappers who operate at will. Even some indigenes of neighbouring communities have fallen prey to the criminals. A lecturer at the University of Port Harcourt and two journalists were kidnapped along the route a few months ago. The level of atrocity taking place on the axis made indigenes cry out and promise to vote against any interest the speaker might present in the 2023 election.
