Nigeria is badly governed today because the citizenry who are supposed to hold their leaders accountable have failed in their duties; demanding gaccountability and transparency from public office holders most times is made to appear ‘criminal’ by the leaders who have been intoxicated by power. Senator Ezenwa Onyewuchi, a sitting Nigerian Senator was called out recently on the imperativeness of serving the people on whose lacerated backs he has been standing to enjoy political power, rather than take the call with sobriety and a call for deeper reflection; he preferred to tow the ignoble path; the path synonymous with Nigerian politicians. He chose to attempt to hoodwink us by throwing his ‘scorecard’ at us.
Now the truth is that, the media and the press in Nigeria which are supposed to be the Fourth Estate or fourth power with a conscience-bound responsibility to hold leaders responsible and accountable have been muzzled to silence, both their explicit capacity for advocacy for good governance, and implicit ability to speak for the common good of the people have been watered down for many reasons. Armed with this knowledge, Senator Francis Ezenwa Onyewuchi threw a list of his so-called achievements at us with the firm conviction that it would be business as usual, and thought we were going to back down. Unfortunately, for the Senator, that would never suffice here.
In this comprehensive report, Africa Daily News, New York investigated every item listed as his achievement in his stewardship in public office over the last ten years, and as expected almost all of them were fictitious claims.
In this investigative report, we would go down the line as far back as 2011 when he was elected as Member representing Owerri Municipal/North/West Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives till date that he currently sits as the Senator representing Imo East in the Senate.
Read Also: Sen Onyewuchi Decries Inclusion Of Foreign Loans In Budget
To ensure that this report is detailed, Africa Daily News, New York would simply reproduce the ‘achievements’ as enumerated in Onyewuchi’s ‘scorecard’ and state our position on every disputable item. We would be putting down his claims in brackets to enable the reader to attain a better grasp. Enjoy!
June 6th, 2011 – 29th May 2019 – Member Representing Owerri Municipal/North/West Federal Constituency (House of Representatives)
BILLS:
Firstly, it is important to note that lawmaking is the PRIMARY duty of any representative. The legislative arm of government in any part of the world is solely saddled with the responsibility of making and amending laws in line with the wishes and aspirations of the citizenry. The legislature as the primary institution for making law is fundamental to democratic governance. To make laws or amend existing ones.
With that in mind, it becomes necessary to inform the reader that in eight years, Ezenwa Onyewuchi was only able to sponsor 12 bills, out of which only three was assented to by the President. Here is a breakdown:
(CLEAN ENERGY CENTRE ESTABLISHMENT BILL) – Didn’t pass second reading.
(GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING BILL) – Didn’t pass second reading.
(SPECIAL NEEDS EDUCATION BILL) – Passed second reading in November 2016 and sent to the committee for deliberations. Still with the committee almost five years later.
(NATIONAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY ACT {AMENDMENT} BILL) – The National Emergency Management Agency Act (Amendment) Bill, 2016 was actually sponsored by Hon. Ali Isa from Gombe State, Ezenwa Onyewuchi only ‘supported’ it.
(SMALL AND MEDIUM SCALE ENTERPRISES DEVELOPMENT AGENCY (AMENDMENT)] -ACT) – Passed in the house in June 2016, assented by the President a year later.
(LABOUR ACT AMENDMENT BILL -PROTECTION FROM UNFAIR TERMINATION) – Consolidated with other bills.
(LABOUR ACT AMENDMENT BILL (SPECIAL INCENTIVE FOR THE EMPLOYMENT OF THE DISABLED)– Same as above, only consolidated.
(LABOUR ACT AMENDMENT BILL (INCREASE OF PENALTIES) – Same as above, only consolidated.
(NATIONAL MANPOWER BOARD BILL (REPEAL) – Second reading was passed in September 2016 and sent to the committee for deliberations, still with the committee five years later.
(NIGERIAN E-COMMERCE BILL) – Nothing of such in reality from Senator Onyewuchi.
(MORAL INSTŔUCTION INTRODUCTION BILL) – The Morals and National Ethics (Inclusion in Schools Curriculum) Bill, 2016 was actually sponsored by Hon. Yusuf Ayo Tajudeen from Kogi State.
(POLICE PROCUREMENT FUND ESTABLISHMENT BILL) – Was co-sponsored by Ezenwa Onyewuchi, Passed by the house in July 2016 and later assented by the President, However, Ezenwa Onyewuchi re-introduced the bill for further works again in 2018 but was forced to withdraw it for unclear reasons.
Summary: A careful scrutiny of the facts stated above would show that only two successful bills were sponsored by Ezenwa Onywewuchi in eight (8) years. The scorecard provided the data and we simply tracked the bills using data made available from the National Assembly archives and a dedicated website for the tracking activities in Nigerian National Assembly known as PLAC BILLSTRACK, it can be accessed via https://placbillstrack.org/index.php.
MOTIONS: According to information deduced from the scorecard provided by Senator Ezenwa Onyewuchi, he was able to move 12 motions in 8 years. Meanwhile for starters, motions are a proposal made by a member or a group of members to the house to do something, order something to be done or express an opinion with regards to some matter. When successfully delivered, they birth what is termed a ‘resolution’. Resolutions are prayers of a Motion agreed to by a Legislative House. They are usually used to express sentiments of a House or to compel a committee to carry out an investigation. And virtually all of Onyewuchi’s 12 motions (in 8 years) were not adopted.
To be continued.
AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK