Posted by By Chidiebere Iwuoha on
Imo House committee Chairman on Education, Hon. Anthony Chukwudum Obieze has cleared the air on the recent suspension handed down to the acting chairman of the State Primary Education Board (SPEB), Chief Mrs Stella Obioha by the state government.
Imo House committee Chairman on Education, Hon. Anthony Chukwudum Obieze has cleared the air on the recent suspension handed down to the acting chairman of the State Primary Education Board (SPEB), Chief Mrs Stella Obioha by the state government.
He said that the government reacted the way it did because of the way the Universal Basic Education (UBE) bill was handled. The bill which was an Executive bill according to him, was urgently taken to the House of Assembly because of the urgency attached to it by an Advisory Group which visited the Governor and the House on the said bill, and harped on the need for the bill to be passed.
He also said that the House got the Act supplied by the National Assembly and was urged to prepare it. It was collected, and based on the urgent need, the Speaker convened a meeting of honourable members and it was passed in good faith.
Hon. Obieze made it clear that the bill was handled the way it was for the state not to lose the money attached to it. He also reiterated that the bill was supposed to be a government bill but because of the way the bill was brought from the Advisory Group, it was looked into immediately.
He also stated that Chief Mrs Obioha's suspension was done in order to pave way for thorough investigation into the matter and that his committee had an input to make in the report that would be released soon as regards how the whole thing happened. He expressed optimism that the real truth on the matter would come out.
On what to do to ensure sound legislature in the state, Hon. Obieze who is a principal officer in the House also expressed optimism that everything would be aimed towards that direction. He informed that the suspended honourable members, Hon. Ngozi Ogbu of Okigwe and Hon. Mbadiwe Emelumba of Oru West State Constituencies would be back to the House soonest, adding that they had shown enough remorse.
Commenting on the reduction of the tenure of LG chiefs in the state from three to two years, by the House, he said this was done because they had stayed one year in office as Transition Committee Chairmen before being elected Executive Chairmen in their Local Government Areas. He added that they were not performing but were busy buying houses everywhere and if lawmakers dared ask they would bluff them. He also stated that, "in some other states, the tenure of LG chairmen has been amended to two years".
On the allegation that the local government chairmen were not providing enough gratification which facilitated the amendment, he described it as "cheap blackmail".
"Let them come out and say we asked for this and that they have given us this. Their allocations have been increased. Some of them went to Abuja and Owerri and bought houses. We are not asking for anything. What we are asking is do the job",
Hon. Obieze who also represents Oru East Constituency in the House gave a situation report on the imbroglio between Consolidated Breweries Awo-mmama, brewers of "33" Export and its host community over the alleged pollution of their stream, the only source of drinking water in that community. He said investigation on the matter was still on, but that while the brewers claimed that the waste water was treated, the people of the community claimed it was still waste water.