— Barr. Obunike Ohaegbu, Fmr. Federal Commissioner Public Complaints Commission

The Ezesinachi N’ Ukpor and former Federal Commissioner, Public Complaints Commission Dara (Barr.) Obunike Ohaegbu, a Lawyer and PDP Chieftain bares his mind on the crisis in the House of Representatives Minority Leadership.

Sir You have worked for over a decade in the House of Representatives, National Assembly, so you are familiar with the intrigues there. So what is your take on the Minority Leadership crisis in the House?

Well, I believe that it is normal political intrigue where people look for reasons to protect their political interests which are always fundamental in all political games like that. My only worry is that Anambra as a State lost in the entire scheme despite the fact that we had a former Deputy Minority Leader from the State was considered for re-appointment by my Party, the PDP.

CAN YOU EXPLAIN TO ME HOW A PERSONAL AMBITION IS A LOSS TO THE ENTIRE ANAMBRA STATE?

My brother, let me give you an example. By virtue of the position of a Deputy Minority Leader in the House of Representatives, Hon. Chukwuma Onyema was a principal officer of the House of Representatives. That automatically made him a Member of the Leadership of the House of Representatives. This position comes with some benefits to the State. For instance, during appropriations, there is this general belief that the Members of the Leadership of the House have the concessions to make extra inputs in the Budget. If that belief is right, then, Anambra State must have lost that opportunity for something extra.

SIR THERE WAS AN UNVERIFIED ALLEGATION THAT HE WAS GETTING OVER ONE BILLION NAIRA PROJECTS:

If what you said is right then Anambra as a State will lose over five billion naira worth of projects in the next four years for that singular act. It is unbelievable. It is sad. That is the more reason why he would have been allowed to pick that position.

Please, do not get me wrong. I have absolutely nothing against Hon. Toby Okechukwu who was eventually appointed by the Speaker on the strength of the signatories of the Members of the Minority Party. He is no doubt a well experienced legislator. I knew him before his election as a Member of the House of Representatives and in the 8^th Assembly; he was Chairman, House Committee on Works. Fantastic young man with a lot of potentials. I have maximum respect for him.

However, my grouse is why would Onye Anambra lose that position with the obvious benefits to the State. If Hon. Onyema nominated projects for Ogbaru LGA when he was the Minority Leader,the natural question to ask is, where is Ogbaru? In Utokom? Is Ogbaru in Kebbi or Adamawa?

As I mentioned earlier, the eventual beneficiary was Chairman House Committee on Works. What are they things Anambra Representatives benefitted or better put, attracted to Anambra through him which they could not get from Hon. Onyema.

BUT THE SPEAKER CLAIMED THAT HIS ANNOUNCEMENT WAS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE HOUSE RULES

It is obvious that you have not been able to understand me. I have not problems whatsoever with what the Speaker did. As a lawyer who has spent about four terms in the House, he is one of the most experienced Legislators in Nigeria as at today. He rose through the ranks from the Minority Leadership to the Majority Leadership and now the Speaker. He should certainly be a master of the House Rules and can leverage on that mastery to his own advantage. He has my maximum respect.

However, my problem is with our representatives from Anambra State who were either too naive to understand the intrigues involved or were too selfish to think about the State first. The Anambra Representatives who signed for the Speaker to ignore the letter from the PDP Leadership, what was in such action for the State they represent?

The Speaker relied on Order 7 Rule 8(1) of the House Rules which states that:

“Members of the Minority Parties in the House shall nominate from among them, the Minority Leader, Minority Whip, Deputy Minority Leader and Deputy Minority Whip”

Even looking at that said provision; you would be shocked that Anambra State lost out in the Minority Leadership because PDP which is the “major” Minority Leader had already nominated a representative from Anambra. The second minority Political Party in terms of numerical strength in the House is APGA. So, how on earth did Anambra State lose out in such equation?

Surprisingly, for the House to defend the announcement of the Speaker they got the young man representing Idemili North/South Federal Constituency to defend that on National Television and his media aides were sharing that absurdity on all social media platforms. Are they that inexperienced and naïve? Your home State just lost about five billion naira in a power game and you were on national television defending such? Unbelievable!

There was unconfirmed allegation that the representative from Rivers State , Hon. Chinday Kingley lost the position of Minority Leadership to Hon. Ndudi Elumelu from Delta State because of the fact that the National Chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus is from Rivers. So, why was that not applied in the Deputy Minority Leadership where Hon. Toby Okechukwu is from Enugu State? Did they forget that the National Youth Leader of the PDP is from Enugu?

My brother, I am from Anambra State and I am worried that as a State, we are getting it all wrong. Someone said that Hon. Onyema could run for governorship if he got the appointment and I was very upset. So, it is all about Anambra governorship? So, why was another person from Anambra State not considered? There was even a strong allegation of monetary inducement but you know such rumours are common in Nigerian Political space. I will not rely on that allegation because it is not verified and usually not verifiable. For me, it is safe to assume that there was no bribery but they representatives from Anambra should explain their individual roles in the whole saga.

As a State, we still have a long way to go in the National Politics. Yesterday, I read where some characters were attacking the Speaker for appointing Hon. Anayo Nnebe as his Special Assistant Political (South East). Who did that to us? If the Speaker withdraws the appointment and announces someone from Abia or Ebonyi, the same characters will clap for the Speaker. Who did this to us as Ndi Anambra?

I KNOW YOU ARE INTERESTED IN THE GOVERNORSHIP OF YOUR STATE BUT YOU ARE NOT SOUNDING POLITICALLY CORRECT

It depends on what you mean by that but it would be irresponsible of me to keep silent when things are going the wrong way. I owe that as a responsibility to my State to speak the truth at all times.

As a matter of fact, I can on the Speaker of the House of Representatives, HE, Rt Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila to make the list of the signatories of the people who opposed the announcement of the letter from the PDP public.

Also, I call on Hon. Ndubisi Nwobu, Ogbuka Awka, Chairman, PDP Anambra State to as a matter of urgency to set up committee to investigate the roles played by the people elected on our Party’s platform from the State on the matter. The Party should get them to explain their roles and possibly, disciplinary measures should be taken against them.

Finally, I call on all the Federal Constituencies in Anambra State to invite their representatives to come and explain their roles in the entire saga. Steps should be taken for the recall of any representative whose signature led to denial of the leadership position in the House to onye Anambra. There must be a stop to all these.