Sylvester Idowu in Warri

The member representing Okpe, Sapele and Uvwie federal constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Ben Etanabene, has condemned the annexation of the legislature by the executive.

Addressing journalists at the Labour Party (LP) secretariat at Effurun in Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State Thursday, the federal lawmaker lamented that the development was not good for democracy.

“This is one of the organs of government under the separation of power theory.

Today in Nigeria, we cannot pride ourselves to be practising an independent legislature. The president is in charge of the National Assembly, while the state governors are similarly controlling the various state Houses of Assembly. So, where is the separation of powers, which is the recipe for growth in any nation?” he asked.

Etanabene noted that every president and governor wants to have the speaker and leadership of their choice, adding: “No wonder, Nigerians would without hesitation at any given time, address the Assemblies as rubber stamps.

“This is not good for democracy. Even where there are opposition parties, these leaders are still interested in coercing the opposition parties to field ‘cooperating’ minority leaders. This is a serious problem in Nigeria, certainly no separation of powers in governance,” he added.

Speaking on electoral reforms, Etanabene noted that under a democracy, the most important agency of government was that which is responsible for elections, stressing that they were the gateways to good or bad governance.

“Where they organize bad elections, all sorts of funny persons can easily find their ways to government but where such elections are free and fair, it expresses the will of the people.

“A good electoral process is the very first foundation stone in any successful democracy. Therefore, how we appoint the umpires matters a lot. The kind of individuals to be appointed is very critical to the nation,” he said.

The federal lawmaker therefore emphasized the need to amend the Electoral Act to eliminate all the poor shortcomings to the 2023 general election.

Commenting on the recent defection by some lawmakers, Etanabene, while acknowledging the provision for freedom of association, maintained that the constitution defined the processes it must take if one is elected, through the provisions of the electoral Act.

“While no clear demand is made for anyone elected into any executive position, it forbids the same, where such is a legislator.

“The provisions of the Electoral Act made it compulsory for any legislator who decamps to vacant the office he or she is elected to occupy unless where the party that he or she represents has crisis as to not being able to operate in its registered head office, and where there is no legally recognized officers or leadership of such political party. In the absence of these conditions the decampee legislator shall vacate the seat.

“It does not require any court pronouncement or the speaker’s action of declaring vacant such a seat. It is automatically activated,” he added.

He maintained that the recent cross-carpeting of politicians from one party to the other has reduced the standard of credibility expected of such highly placed individuals in the society, adding: “It is morally and lawfully not good. Our democracy is in decline.”

Etanabene stated that there was no crisis in the Labour Party (LP), the platform which he rode into office, assuring the audience that nothing would make him defect to another party.

“I have consistently averred that the LP has no crisis. The issues in the party are such a disagreement on how to move the party forward. However, to actualize such an idea, is the crux of the matter.

“As we all know, LP is headed by Barr. Julius Abure and is operating from the National Headquarters of the party at Utako, FCT Abuja. Also, his name and that of others are in the INEC website as leaders of the Labour Party.

“Today, the events of the party nominees to the forthcoming Anambra election is a clear interpretation of the current position of affairs of the Labour Party,” he added.

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