Last Imo Assembly a rubber-stamp —concerned indigenes

Imo State stakeholders have scored the past Imo Assembly low, describing it as an appendage of the executive arm. They want the new Assembly to turn a new leaf and work for the general good of the people. ORI MARTINS reports

Owerri the Imo state capital was in a joyous mood last week when the new House of Assembly was inaugurated. The excitement that greeted the exercise was not unconnected to the perceived failure of the last Assembly, led by Mr. Ben Uwajumogu. The people of Imo state were reportedly in a hurry to see the exit of the past Assembly. However, the 27 new members of the Assembly have been charged to turn a leave and work for the good of the state.

The news of the election of AchoIhim, member representing Okigwe state constituency as the new Speaker received a resounding applause. However, beyond the euphoria of his emergence is the enormity of challenges facing Imo State and the high expectations of the people from them? The question on the lips of many Imolites is whether the legislators are aware that majority of the Imo citizenry are angry with the immediate past Assembly? The accusation is that the Assembly members failed to carry out their legislative duties well and worked as an appendage of the executive.

Responding to the question on the performance of the last Imo Assembly, Elder Paul Nwoko from Egbu in Owerri state constituency said; “It is quite obvious that the last Imo state House of Assembly really did not live up to expectations. I cannot actually point out to any bill the House passed that I can tell you that impacted positively in the lives of the people. Instead, I can tell you that it would be remembered more with the controversial abortion bill which was passed into law sometime in 2013. It took the outcry of the masses and the clergy before the House and the Governor would repeal the obnoxious law. For me, the House failed and any right thinking indigene of Imo knows that the last House members practically did nothing as far as law making was concerned”.

On what he now expects the current legislators to do, Nwoko submitted thus; “It is good that the current House has elected its principal officers without any rancor, we now expect it to do a clear departure from what the last lawmakers did. They should make laws that will benefit the larger Imo people and stop being a stooge to the executive arm of the government”.

In his submission, Chief OsonduNwachuwku, a PDP chieftain from Umuhu Autonomous Community in AbohMbaise LGA noted that the last Imo House did both commendable and condemnable actions, but quickly added that, by his record, the bad did outweighed its good dispositions. According to him; “right from day one when the last Assembly was inaugurated, its actions and even inactions gave rise to crisis, illegalities and failures, though with few pass marks. Remember very well on the day of its inauguration in 2011, most of the House members who were elected on the platform of the PDP jumped boat and declared for APGA and they eventually followed Governor RochasOkorocha to the APC. Mind you that the then Speaker, Hon Ben Uwajumogu later swore an affidavit that he never defected and yet he contested a senatorial election on the platform of APC. Having started on illegality, it was very difficult for the House to have carried out its legislative functions as stipulated by the constitution. It is common knowledge that its worst moment was when it wrongly impeached then Deputy Governor, Jude Agboso over unverifiable charges of corruption in the award of contracts.

Having scored the House low in its last outing, the PDP stalwart then charged the current lawmakers to do more than their predecessors by making laws that would give the executive arm of government a direction to follow between now and 2019”.

Speaking on phone from his Amaifeke in Orlu LGA State Constituency, AmakaNwanyiochaIbeh stated that nothing showcases the failure of the last House of Assembly than the corrupt allegation charges levied against Speaker Uwajumogu by citizen Samuelson Iwuoha. Although Iwuoha could not go far in his allegation as he was also allegedly involved in a murder case, the import here is that since the head was rotten, nothing good can indeed come from the House.

The last Imo House of Assembly was a very controversial one as it did not keep the executive arm on check, rather it became an appendage of the governor to carry out whatever he wanted to do and I pray that the current lawmakers will not toe this disgraceful path of the immediate past Imo House of Assembly”.

Certainly, no other person’s view point on the failure or otherwise of the last Imo House can be more comprehensive than that of Mr. John Mgbe, an Owerrri based journalist and social critic. In a release in Owerri made available to Hallmark recently, the researcher commentator submitted as follows: “The sins of Ben Uwajumogu -led House are numerous. The  Uwajumogu- led  House  used Governor  Okorocha’s  fiscal  budgets  to  destroy  and  under -develop  Imo  State. The scheme was termed Four (4) Year Rescue Development Plan  for  Imo  State(2012-2015): The  first  shameful  assignment  of  the  Uwajumogu House was  to  enact  what  it  called Imo  State  of  Nigeria 2011, Law  No.18. It is also called Imo State of Nigeria 4-Year Capital Infrastructural Development Law, 2011. It is through this nebulous document that Mr.Uwajumogu and his group allegedly looted Imo State.

Analyzing the implications of what was recorded in the document passed into law by the last Imo House of Assembly members, it was revealed that various amounts were allocated to some expenditure headings totaling N224,020412,679.  Some of the  projects  included   Imo  Airways  project  for  N I BILLION,  Oguta  Blue  Lake  Treasure  for N5 billion, Power  plant project  for  N10 billion,  industrial  projects  for  15  Billion,  IMSU  permanent  site  to  gulp N15 billion, Hospital projects  to gulp N10b, Gated  City projects  (Owerri) totaling NI3b etc.

Other respondents who do not want their names in print were very much unhappy with the last Imo House as it never played any oversight function concerning some of Okorocha’s programmes, like free education which is causing ripples in the state; establishment of new 27 general hospitals in the state when there were already existing ones that were seeking for attention and ought to have been upgraded. In the final analysis, the people made it clear that the last Imo Assembly failed the state in every ramification as they served as rubber stamp to the executive. They called on the new Speaker, AchoIhim and the Assembly to turn a new leaf.