Chinedum Enyinnaya Orji is a Nigerian politician and former

member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

who represented Umuahia Central State Constituency. He served as the 11th

Speaker of the Abia State House of Assembly The Speaker of the Abia State House of Assembly is the political head of the Abia State legislative who serves as the presiding officer of the Abia State House of Assembly. The Speaker is elected by Members of the House with the sole responsib ...

since June 10, 2019 till June 10, 2023. He was unanimously elected as the Speaker of the

Abia State House of Assembly Abia State House of Assembly is the legislative arm of the Abia State Government. It is a unicameral body consisting of 24 members elected into 24 state constituencies and presided by a Speaker of the Abia State House of Assembly, Speaker. Compo ...

on the 10th of June, 2019 during the Inauguration of the 7th Abia State House of Assembly.

Early life

Chinedum Enyinnaya Orji was born on December 25, 1970, to the family of Senator

Theodore Orji Theodore Ahamefule Orji CON is a Nigerian politician who was governor of Abia State in southeast Nigeria from 2007 to 2015. He was formerly a career civil servant, and served as the Chief of Staff to Abia Governor Orji Uzor Kalu. Background ...

and Chief Mrs. Odochi Orji of Amaokwe in Ugba village, Ugba Autonomous Community in Umuahia North Local Government Area of Abia State, Nigeria. Chinedum attended Ugba Community Primary School, Umuahia Ibeku between 1976 and 1982, from where he proceeded to Government Secondary School, Owerri, between 1982 and 1987. He gained admission into the

Federal University of Technology Owerri The Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO) is a federal government university in Owerri West, the capital of Imo State, Nigeria. The university is bounded by the communities of Eziobodo, Umuchima, Ihiagwa and Obinze. It is the premier ...

where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in

Civil Engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...

in 1996.

Career

Chinedum Enyinnaya Orji is a Member of the

Nigerian Society of Engineers The Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) is an umbrella organization for engineers in Nigeria. It was founded on 16 February 1958 by a group of young Nigerian Graduate Engineers and students in the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Grea ...

(MNSE), the umbrella organization for the Engineering Profession in Nigeria.

Political career

Before he threw his hat into the ring of politics, Rt Hon Chinedum E. Orji MNSE had carved a niche for himself as a philanthropist extraordinaire who touched the lives of the people through his numerous philanthropic interventions that saw to the execution of projects and donation of items that directly touched the lives of the people through his Direct Touch Initiative which also saw to the empowerment of many Abians particularly the youth and women through skills acquisition for which he has received many awards and commendations. Having endeared himself to the people, it became easy for him to emerge as the Lawmaker representing Umuahia Central State Constituency at the Abia State House of Assembly at the 2015 general elections and served as Majority Leader of the House till 2019 when he was re-elected into the 7th Assembly. On June 10, 2019, Chinedum Enyinnaya Orji emerged as Speaker of the 7th Abia State House of Assembly making him the number three citizen of the State. He is a member of the People's Democratic Party. Orji ran for Ikwuano/Umuahia North/Umuahia South Federal Constituency of Abia State in the February 25, 2023 House of Representatives election but lost to his opponent Obi Aguocha of the Labour Party who polled 48,199 votes to defeat Orji who scored 35,195 votes.

Bills and projects

In 2019, Chinedum Orji started the renovation of the

. It was his first project in his second term in office. Orji also facilitated the live streaming of

Plenary sessions A plenary session or plenum is a session of a conference which all members of all parties are to attend. Such a session may include a broad range of content, from keynotes to panel discussions, and is not necessarily related to a specific style ...

was commended by several media platforms. During his leadership the Abia State House of Assembly passed the

Service Commission Bill (HAB1 2019) into law. The Abia State House of Assembly Commission Service bill grants the house financial autonomy. As speaker of the Abia State House of Assembly, he passed over 17 bills which included the Bills on financial autonomy of the

, the Abia State Agency for free home healthcare services and the Abia State security bill. The Abia State Protection Agency Bill 2019 was also passed into law as well as the Abia State Safety Commission Bill, Abia State Donor Agencies Trust Fund Bill, Abia State Violence Against Persons Prohibition Bill 2019, Abia State Marketing and Quality Management Agency Bill 2019 and the Abia State Specialist Hospital and Diagnostic Centre Umuahia Bill 2019.

Sun Newspapers Public Service Award

On the 17th of October, Chinedum Enyinnaya Orji was honoured with The Sun Public Service Award 2020 award, by The Sun Publishing Ltd, publishers of The Daily Sun Newspapers for touching lives

Personal life

Chinedum Enyinnaya Orji is a Knight of the

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...

. Orji has also obtained a fellowship from the

where he has been a member since 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orji, Chinedum 1970 births Living people People from Abia State Igbo politicians Peoples Democratic Party state governors of Nigeria Federal University of Technology Owerri alumni Nigerian Anglicans Members of the Abia State House of Assembly Speakers of the Abia State House of Assembly 21st-century Nigerian politicians