The sixth Anambra State House of Assembly was recently inaugurated, and two-term member, Rita Maduagwu, emerged as the Speaker. She spoke with Senior Correspondent, OKEY MADUFORO, on the future of the new Assembly and circumstances surrounding her election.
How does your emergence as Speaker make you feel?
I am humbled by this development. The position was zoned to Anambra South Senatorial District and we have so many qualified legislators from that zone. At the end, I emerged as the Speaker.
This is also a challenge on my part to steer the ship of the Anambra State House of Assembly. It is not an easy task though; but with the support of my colleagues in that hallowed chamber, I will succeed.
Anambra Assembly in the next four years
It is going to be a very vibrant Assembly. When you understudy the quality of members we have presently, you can agree with me that they will show effective and populist representation. We have men and women from different walks of life that have experience. They would certainly bring their experience to bear in the discharge of their oversight duties. This Assembly will make laws for the good governance of Anambra State. Some of them are ranking members, having been there in the last four years. So they will certainly deliver as expected. We have already set up three committees to come up with how we are going to pilot the affairs of the legislative arm of government.
New members in the House
Yes, they are new, but we have gone through the training process, such as the induction class and the moot class and they have been able to appreciate the nuances and challenges of lawmaking. Also, there is already a synergy between the old and new lawmakers, and we shall leverage on that to have a vibrant and purposeful legislative arm of government in the next four years. You must also appreciate the fact that we were once new lawmakers and we passed through this process to become ranking members of the Assembly. I advise that members should sponsor bills that would produce good laws for the people of Anambra.
APGA-dominated Assembly ending up as executive rubber stamp
That is not true at all. We have separation of powers and we abide by it. Some people even described the last Assembly as stooge to the executive, and I must say that I was also part of that Assembly and you cannot say that we were parastatals of the executive arm of government. But I must add here that the sixth Assembly would be different, and it is too early for one to begin to make comparison at this stage.
Come to think of it, we are talking about the legislature and the executive and no one is talking about the judicial arm of government. Is the judiciary going to be a stooge? Bear in mind that in as much as we shall hold firm to the theory of separation of powers, people should also understand that this is one government that has a target. We also need to work together to achieve this objective.
Agitations for the total independence of the legislature
I support the independence of the legislature, not only in Anambra but in the country. The last time the issue came up, we voted on it. Total independence of the legislature would make for effective representation of the masses. But that does not foreclose the need for the three arms of government to function well for the good of the masses. People should disabuse their minds over the fears being entertained that total independence of the legislature means a platform to arm-twist or frustrate the executive arm of government.
A governor or president still has veto powers which he can also exercise. That also becomes a check on the legislature. The essence of legislative independence is for better and populist representation, which would also affect the functions of the executive positively. So it is not retrogressive but pro-people and democratically proper.
Emerging Speaker in controversial circumstances
There was nothing controversial about my emergence. There were calls for nomination and one member nominated me. There was no other nominee and I was returned unopposed.
Had it been that another nominee came up and voting did not take place and I was made Speaker, there would have been protest or some kind of trouble. But all these did not happen. So where is the controversy?
Being the candidate of Anambra First Lady
I am not aware of that. But you know that she is not a member of the Assembly and cannot vote. The laws say the legislature shall elect among its members a Speaker and that was what happened on that day. The lawmakers elected a Speaker from among the members and nothing more. I regard some of these things as mere stories and allegations that do not hold water at all. As it stands now, the sixth Anambra House of Assembly is in place and essentially what is more important now is for us to carry out our oversight functions for the good of the people. The election era has gone and the Assembly wishes not to be distracted by rumours.
