By Ebubechukwuzuloke Brown
Nnewi has developed to become one of the viable commercial towns in Nigeria, and the second most viable commercial town in Anambra State, but politically, the town is always disadvantaged.
In the industrial city of Nnewi, zoning and rotation of elective office especially as it concerns House of Assembly seat has deprived the town quality representation and occupation of sensitive positions in the Anambra State House of Assembly.
The culture of terminating the tenure of the town representative in the state legislative house every four (4) years on the basis of rotational representation has done a serious damage to the performance of lawmakers in the town.
According to the rotation principle in Nnewi which is contained in section 6.3 sub section 3 of Nnewi constitution, it stipulates that if Nnewi town has only one seat at the State House of Assembly, the seat will be zoned to Umudim and that it will be rotated in the order of Nnewichi, Uruagu, Otolo, and then back to Umudim.
The rotation/zoning arrangement in Nnewi has continued to make it impossible for Nnewi representatives to attain principal positions in the Anambra State House of Assembly. The ranking rule of the House of Assembly has reserved the occupation of principal positions for older members of the House.
The ranking rule practice states that the more a member stays in the chamber, the higher his or her ranking status, which is considered in occupation of positions of responsibilities that include the leadership and headship of some committees.
In Anambra State House of Assembly, section 3.26 of the standing rule order stipulates that “The Member-elect being proposed as Speaker shall have had successful four years tenure or more as a state legislator. With this standing rule and also other rules that apply to other principal positions, no member-elect from Nnewi is qualified to contest for the office of the Speaker, Deputy, or even attain principal positions.
In the legislature, the more experienced a lawmaker is, the more sensitive positions he/she gets, the more projects he/she attracts. The constitution of Nigeria has even made it more possible for lawmakers to gain the requisite experience to effectively discharge their mandate, that is the major reason why there is no limit in the number of times a performing legislator could be reelected.
On the side of performance, with the rotation principle, state lawmakers from Nnewi are always bound to perform poorly, save for the likes of Hon. Nonso Smart Okafor who has dotted the constituency with projects and the vocal Hon. Barr. Ben Chuks Nwosu, most of the state lawmakers that have represented Nnewi may have performed poorly because they know they won’t have a second chance.
If viewed from the obvious, crafting legislative proposals is a learned skill; as in other professions, experience matters. Being on the job allows lawmakers an opportunity to learn and navigate the labyrinth of rules, precedents, and procedures of the House.
In 2015, All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) the party in the majority in the Anambra State House of Assembly zoned the position of Speakership to Anambra South Senatorial Zone following the November 2014 election victory of Willie Obiano (Anambra North) and Nkem Okeke (Anambra Central) as Governor and Deputy Governor respectively.
Nnewi’s representative, Hon. Engr. Chukwudi Orizu was in pole position to become the Speaker having served as the Deputy Speaker in his first term in the House of Assembly (Which is against the rule now), but because of the four (4) years single term provision in the Nnewi constitution, He didn’t seek for reelection and that was how he lost out.
In 2019, Nnewi had the same opportunity due to the influence Hon. Amala Anazodo wields in the House and his close relationship with the Executive, it was once again sacrificed on the altar of zoning.
In 2023, Hon. Nonso Smart Okafor who has been rated as the most performing lawmaker in the 7th Assembly due to his number of bills, motions, and projects will be waving a Goodbye to the House of Assembly despite the fact if he returns his chances of becoming the Deputy Speaker or heading the Appropriation and Finance Committee where he is currently the Deputy Chairman is high.
The truth remains that it is time Nnewi jettisons this rotation/zoning principle in other to enable the town to produce experienced and performing lawmakers. Instead of rotation, the town should start pressing forward the need for more political wards and one more state constituency. The numerical strength of the town meets the requirements. Other areas like Onitsha, Aguata, Orumba, Idemili, Ogbaru, Ihiala, and Nnewi South, already have two (2) or more state constituencies while Nnewi North is left with one.
Ebubechukwuzuloke Brown
Nnewi, Anambra State.
