The speaker of Anambra State House of Assembly Mrs Chinwe Nwaebili should rise above partisan considerations and wake up to her responsibilities to the people of Anambra State or quit.
It is unthinkable that the Anambra House should proceed on a one-month break without approving the timetable for democratic polls for local government elections thereby allowing a body that should check the executive to co-tow on the undemocratic credentials of the Anambra executive led by Dr Peter Obi, who is working to frustrate the LG polls.
The action of leading her house to rubber-stamp governor Peter Obi’s recipe for confusion in the Anambra State ;local government polls by sacking the Chairman of the supposedly ‘independent’ electoral commission of the state without due process has portrayed the Speaker of Anambra State as incapable of leading and nurturing an independent legislature for the state.
It is a standard administrative and legal principle that an accused person should have the chance to defend himself and the fact that the speaker could not come to terms with this common knowledge shows that she is taking dictations from the state government which she and the rest of the house are supposed to check.
To further this, the house, under the stiff guidance of the speaker, who is teleguided went ahead to extend the tenure of an illegal care-taker committee, without empowering themselves with legal advice, let alone against the political temperature in Anambra State.
To crown it all, the house adjourned till October 18m 2011 without extracting any electoral timetable or preparation commitments from ANSIEC, or the state government.
Ms Nwaebili ought to realise that apart from being the speaker of the House of Assembly, she is also representing a state constituency Ogbaru Constituency 2, which has strongly demonstrated their desire to emplace democratic governance at the local government level.
ACN calls on the Speaker Ms Chinwe Nwaebili to shape up or ship out of the speakership position. As a first step, she should apologise to the people of Anambra State for playing on their intelligence and failing to see through partisan cloaks at the undemocratic machinations of the executive led by Mr Peter Obi, who has no intention to conduct local government elections.
Our great party hereby calls on the Anambra legislature to assert its independence and that of the Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission (ANSIEC)
Okelo Madukaife
State Publicity Secretary
ACN, Anambra State
