NewsProbe News from Nigeria and Around the world
Raymond Ozoji, Awka
Ahead of the formal inauguration of the Anambra State 7th Legislature, debates have continued to rage as to what senatorial zone the 7th Speaker of the Anambra State House of Assembly will come from. The social and traditional media are equally awash with various postulations regarding who becomes Anambra’s 7th Speaker and what part of the 3 senatorial districts he or she would emerge from. This is the crux of the matter as events continue to unfold heralding the formal constitution of the 7th Anambra State House of Assembly. Although political pundits as well as those who are conversant with power rotation and zoning in Anambra state have not been hesitant in making it clear that the Speakership of the 7th legislature should emanate from Anambra-South senatorial district as equity, justice and good conscience demand, as any move on the contrary would be tantamount to injustice, political marginalisation as well as a rape of democracy and the rule of law.
Hon. Anthony Chukwudi Orekyeh, the state chairman of National Action Council (NAC) in Anambra is one of those who believe very strongly that Anambra-South should not be shortchanged in producing the Speaker of the 7th lawmaking organ of the state. Orekyeh who functions also as the Deputy State Secretary of the Inter-Party Advisory Council of Nigeria (IPAC) Anambra chapter and also the Coordinating Chairman of the National Action Council State Chairmen in Nigeria, noted that judging from the political equations in the state, it would be most undemocratic should Anambra-south senatorial district be denied its rightful slot of the Speaker. The astute politician of 41 years standing, who coincidentally is the Governor’s cousin, emphasized the dire need for a harmonious working relationship between the legislature and the executive arm of government especially as the citizenry look forward to the constitution of the 7th assembly.
Orekyeh who dissociated himself from who eventually becomes the Speaker of the Anambra State House of Assembly, maintained that it needed not be overemphasized that politically wise and otherwise the Speaker of the 7th parliament should emanate from Anambra-South zone. He said, “We need a Speaker that is all-accommodating; a Speaker that is accessible and shouldn’t be arrogant; a Speaker that is a team player so that he can carry every legislator along as he carries the business of legislation in the House. One House, one family because whatever happens in the House affects the government in power.”
According to him, Anambra state needs a Speaker that can work with the state governor and deliver the dividends of democracy to the people. He said Speakership of the state assembly does not only involve internal activities of the House but includes also proper and adequate representation of the state elsewhere emphasising that the leadership of the legislature is indeed a serious business and such business should be handled by people who know the nitty-gritty of legislation. He also stated that it was nothing about political parties any longer as the elections have come and gone but about the welfare and well-being of the citizenry, noting that the entire state earnestly awaits the way and manner in which the Speaker of the 7th Anambra State House of Assembly would pilot the affairs of the House.
Though he posited that he was not a member of the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) even though he was closely related to the state governor, he observed that there hasn’t been much of cordial relations between the legislative and executive arms of government in the 6th assembly. For this reason, the 7th legislature has a greater task especially as it concerns synergy and symbiotic relationship with the executive to sustain the tempo of good governance in the state. He however reaffirmed his position that the next Speaker of the State House of Assembly should come from Anambra-South senatorial zone because the state governor according to him is from Anambra-North, the Deputy Governor is of the Central senatorial district; that the Deputy Speaker is also of the Central senatorial zone, stressing that from the current scenario equity demands that the next Speaker should be of the South senatorial district. He said the Governor he knew from childhood wouldn’t play to the gallery but would allow equity take its natural place in the production of the next Speaker. As the citizenry patiently await the emergence of the new Speaker, Orekyeh however reiterated that the 7th Speaker should be knowledgeable and well-grounded with the rudiments of legislative affairs not a mediocre. He also pointed out that the Inter-Party Advisory Council of Nigeria (IPAC) Anambra state led by Hon. Prince Isaac Onuka would partner the state government in ensuring harmony and also avoid a rancorous legislature for the greater Anambra and for the betterment of all and sundry in the state.
