Trappings of Legislative Astuteness ➖ In Fairness To Hon Obinna Egu

MAZI EJIMOFOR OPARA

I am very sure that fierce reprisals will greet this piece, not because the subject is bereft of laudable achievements, far from that. But, because Hon Egu is simply a victim of negative politicking. First, from an army of distraught former PDP acolytes who begrudge him for supposedly moving into the APC with their acclaimed mandate. Then, the other is from his new party, the APC, where certain elements within the party have become unnecessarily critical of an Obinna Egu entry for reasons not so unconnected with his meteoric rise and growing popularity within the ranks of the party in the State. All these put together, has created a cornucopia of politically motivated ill feelings for the lawmaker, who, against these odds, is spewing pockets of surprises to the chagrin of naysayers.

However, what neither of the camps cannot take away from the State Legislator is his calm mien and uncommon recompense of negative actions with positive reactions. Generally, the 8th Imo State Assembly has been criticized for maintaining friendly relations with the executive arm of government. To this group of negligible rabblerousing critics, the harmonious relationship is a sign of consensual corruption where both arms of government aide mutual maladministration rather than check it. The extent to which this is true may not be legally substantiated. Hence, cannot form the core of any important argument within logical limits – GEJ enjoyed same under the 7th Senate superintended by David Mark. So, if the executive has decided to blur the lines of bureaucratic bottlenecks to ease administration, a sane mind should be more concerned with the merits of the system than the political undertones of the same.

That said, I do not think we would make any objective assessment of Hon Egu without situating it within the context of his role as a Legislator who is a “first timer” in the true sense of the word. Yet, he has become an indispensable part of the 8th State Assembly, where some persons held sway for 8years and remained incognito. As an opposition lawmaker, he was the minority leader. Currently, as a lawmaker in the ruling party, he is the Deputy Chief Whip. Under his watch, laudable projects have been attracted to our LGA. Whether or not these are State government projects remain a distraction that the detractors themselves cannot clearly justify without sounding silly. Reasons being that all projects executed by the Executive arm of government must first be appropriated by the legislature and oversighted by them too.

Once upon a time, I and some others clamoured against his silence and near absence on the cyber space, we fought so hard that many thought it was a personal vendetta. But, rather than publish “private chats” and make excuses for same or see it as political witchhaunting, Hon Egu came all out to accept responsibility and make necessary amendments. When people ask of physical infrastructure he attracted and the answers are provided, they switch board immediately to say the converse. For those in the PDP, it is a “Rescue Mission Project”. Yet, these are the same people who some seconds before argued that “Owelle is doing nothing”, or that the Rescue Mission is nothing but a “Risky Mission”.

For those who argue that the legislative business is a “ranking” business, it is very manifest that Hon Obinna Egu has shown trappings of astuteness even as an absolute “first timer”. This is evident in his role as a principal officer of the house and other commendable feats that most persons we clamour for could barely achieve even as “senior” legislators operating from Abuja. In all fairness, Hon Obinna Egu is one of such legislators who work the talk of Legislative business. While I accept that we are not where we long to be, I sincerely appreciate the fact that we are not where we were few years back.

#NgorOkpalaDeservesBetter