Rt. Hon. Asiforo Okere yesterday emerged the new Speaker of Abia State House of Assembly. The erstwhile deputy speaker was elevated to the coveted position following the resignation of the former occupant, Rt. Hon. Ude Oko Chukwu, who resigned on May 27 after being elected as the deputy governor of the state.

The realignment of the House leadership after Chukwu's exit saw an upward movement of all the principal officers of the House to the next higher rank.

This saw the Leader of the House, Barrister Chidiebere Nwoke, become the new Deputy Speaker. The mantle fell on Nwoke who represents Umuahia East Constituency when his second in command, the Deputy Leader, Chief Princewill Onyegbu (Bende South), declined nomination for the position of Deputy Speaker, thus allowing Nwoke to climb to the rank of deputy speaker without going through the process of voting.

In a similar fashion, Onyegbu was promoted to the position of Leader of the House while he would now be assisted by the former Whip, Dr. Ikechukwu Nwabeke (Osisioma South) who has become the Deputy Leader. Nwabeke is replaced by his Deputy, Chief Humphrey Azubuike (Ugwunagbo state constituency) as the new Whip. Also, Hon Mba Ukaha (Ohafia South) was made the new Deputy Whip.

The new speaker and his deputy, in their separate acceptance speeches, assured of their preparedness to continue with the constitutional duties of the House till June 8, 2015 when the business session of the 5th House of Assembly would come to an end.

While thanking his colleagues for his elevation, Okere, who by the latest development is the Seventh Speaker of the House, pledged that the House would cooperate with the Executive and Judiciary arms of government and appealed to anyone who has issues of public interest to approach the House, assuring that such matter would be given urgent attention. The deputy speaker equally expressed gratitude to his colleagues for his elevation.

•Photo shows new Abia Speaker, Rt. Hon. Asiforo Okere.