Uche Ugwu, a lawmaker from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has been elected speaker of the Enugu House of Assembly.

Mr. Ugwu was elected by the 24 members of the House during the first session of the House on Tuesday in Enugu's assembly chamber.

Emma Udaya, the Clerk of the House, presided over the opening session of the ninth legislative assembly.

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On June 10, the previous House ceased to exist.

Mr. Ugwu, who represents the Udi North Constituency in the assembly, served as the previous House's vice-speaker.

Nominations

Mr. Ugwu was nominated for the position of speaker by Iloabuchi Aniagu, who represents the Nkanu West State Constituency, and Chukwudi Nwankwo, who represents the Awgu South State Constituency.

As there was no other candidate, the clerk appointed Mr. Ugwu as the new speaker to succeed Uchenna Ubosi, the previous speaker of the House.

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Ezenta Ezeani, who represents Igbo-Etiti East Constituency, was elected vice-speaker of the ninth assembly. Jane Eneh of the constituency of Awgu North nominated Mr. Ezeani of the constituency of Igbo-Etiti West. Okey Mba, the lawmaker representing Nkanu East Constituency, seconded the nomination.

The clerk declared Mr. Ezeani to be the eighth assembly's vice-speaker due to the lack of any other nominations. Mr. Ezeani, the new vice-speaker, is a PDP member like the new speaker.  Members of the Labour Party (LP) predominate the eighth assembly.

There are 14 LP members and 10 PDP members in the House.

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Given the provisions of the law and the rules of the House, the LP was unable to head the assembly despite being the majority party.

Since 1999, the PDP had never lost an election in the state until the general elections of 2023, when the LP won several federal and state legislative seats.

The victories of the LP in the 2023 elections were attributed to the impact of the party's 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, whose support grew throughout the campaign.