Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, yesterday, elected Mr. Onofiok Luke as its new Speaker following the sack of the Speaker, Mr. Aniekan Uko, by the Court of Appeal which nullified his election.

Luke, a 35-year-old law practitioner, from Nsit Ubium state constituency was unanimously elected in an unusual meeting of the House, yesterday.

 CEOAfrica source gathered that the House had to hurriedly elect a new speaker after it was rattled by the nullification of Governor Udom Emmanuel’s election by the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja last Friday.

Though the House usually meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays, it had not met for over a month due to what its spokesman, Mr Ime Okon, described as “distractions arising from the legal challenges” over the election of members.

However, Okon told our source yesterday that the House had to meet to elect a substantive Speaker who would receive the governor today when he presents the 2016 appropriation to the House.

He refuted claims that the rush to elect Luke, who the party had in June rejected as speaker, was connected with the fear that without a substantive speaker by the time the Supreme Court would dispense with Udom’s appeal, the state’s Chief Judge would take over as governor should the apex court affirm the Court of Appeal’s ruling on the matter.

Ironically, Okon and Luke had squared up for the speakership position in June but the party brushed both of them aside and went for Uko, then a legislative neophyte.

On why he did not contest the speakership this time round, Okon said: “There are so many intervening circumstances. For instance, the Peoples Democratic Party we all belong to has zoning arrangement.  Itu Federal Constituency, where I come from, already has a Senator.

“So going by the arrangement of the party, Onofiok should pick it up.

“He is qualified;  he’s a lawyer; a second time legislator and intelligent enough.

“You can only have one Speaker at a time. And during a period like this, we must play down primordial sentiments.”

We should allow the overall interest of the state to prevail,” Okon said.

The new Speaker and the governorship candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Mr. Umana Okon Umana, are from the same local government area.