BY Raymond Ozoji, Awka
Investigations into the activities of the current 8th assembly of Anambra State reveals a cold war in the legislature where the minority LP lawmakers feel marginalised and discriminated upon.
Although the leadership of the House of Assembly has since the inauguration of the current legislature, handled affairs of the House with wisdom and utmost dexterity ensuring neutrality, equity and non-partisanship in the administration of the House, LP lawmakers still bemoan relegation in the scheme of things.
HEADLINE NEWS gathered that the subtle marginalisation of LP lawmakers of the Anambra State House of Assembly was not from the Speaker Rt.Hon.Dr. Somtochukwu Nkemakonam Udeze but from those surrounded by the Speaker and who allegedly blackmail other members of the legislature and who seemed to be afraid of the Labour Party members in the House.
Investigations also revealed that in the selection of the leadership of the 8th legislature, the people presented by the Labour Party caucus were not the ones selected despite the fact that LP members were in the majority and officially communicated to the House as to those they wanted for principal officers of the House of Assembly.
A source from the 8th assembly maintained that undue interference in the internal affairs of the Labour Party caucus was another problematic issue plaguing the House of Assembly.
Although the source who preferred anonymity admitted that anything due to LP members got to them as the Speaker has maintained a balance and tried to carry everyone along; the source described the Speaker as a good man and an impartial leader in spite of being in the majority ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).
The source however disclosed that the subtle discrimination against LP lawmakers are evident in the way and manner in which issues involving members are treated.
That in situations wherein lawmakers trespassed against the House, the attention accorded offences committed by LP lawmakers were not the same attention given to those committed by APGA lawmakers or members from other political parties in the House.
HEADLINE NEWS gathered from the source that two lawmakers dragged the image of the 8th assembly to the mud but the way the cases were handled depicted subtle marginalisation against Labour Party members of the House.
The source also noted that while a panel was set for one member, no panel was set for the other erring member.
The source further disclosed that due to internal squabbles amongst LP lawmakers themselves, some Labour Party members lost chairmanship position of committees assumed to be lucrative.
It maintained that Labour Party was not in the 8th assembly to oppose Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo or to oppose the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) but to speak their minds as well as defend the masses.
It also said that in terms of attendance to legislative duties, Labour Party members are above aboard, adding that they are not opposing the governor but make diligent contributions to bills for onward passage and not to grandstand unnecessarily.
The source equally pointed out that there is also the tendency for the APGA led legislature to think that LP members are coming to oppose them which it said is not instead they are in the House of Assembly to say things the way they are and not to fight anyone not even the leadership of the House of Assembly.
It however made a case for a legislature where members would see themselves as brothers and as partners in the development of Anambra State and not people who came to the House of Assembly only to grandstand and lie against one another all in the name of playing dirty politics.
When contacted to disclaim the claims of the source who posited that LP lawmakers in the 8th assembly were being marginalised, the majority leader of the House and member representing Ekwusigo State Constituency Hon. Ikenna Ofodeme and his Onitsha-South One State Constituency counterpart and House of Assembly Committee Chairman on Information didn't respond to phone calls respectively.
But the Chief Whip of the 8th assembly and member representing Ihiala one State Constituency Hon. Barr. Jude Ngobili, who responded to phone calls from this journalist, said he has no idea if such discriminatory tendencies ever existed in the current legislature.
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