Following the December 10, 2016 conclusive rerun legislative elections in Rivers State, the newly elected members of the State legislature were inaugurated at the hallowed chambers of the State House of Assembly recently.
Among those who witnessed the august event was one time Deputy Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Rt Hon. Iyk Oji.
In this interview with Opaka Dokubo in Port Harcourt, the former lawmaker did an x-ray of the house.
Excerpts.
How do you feel about the way issues around swearing-in of all elected legislators were resolved?
I will borrow the words of the late K. O. Mbadiwe to say that the House now is in an “Accord Concordia: The House is ready for legislative duties which they owe Rivers people. What happened was like a breath of fresh air into the Assembly and I commend the leadership of the House of Assembly and the State for taking that civilized and mature path. It is a path of honour which every Rivers man should be proud of and commend them for.
In parliament, we are interested in the over all well being of the entire Rivers people. You come into parliament on the springboard of a party but the moment you take your oath of membership and oath of allegiance, the overall interest of Rivers people should be paramount to you. I think that that is what they have realized and that is what they have done.
What do you make of the composition of the rivers state house of Assembly today?
The House is well constituted. It doesn’t matter whether you’re in the majority or minority party, what matters most is the interest of Rivers people.
If I was opposition, I will not do opposition to the detriment of the interest of those who elected me, otherwise I’ll be recalled. So, all of them should know that there is now one Rivers State House of Assembly that is made up of honourable members, not Party A or Party B. Party becomes secondary at this stage. What matters is that they’re honourable members of one house and that house owes a lot to the people of Rivers State who elected them. And they should focus on that and refuse to be distracted.
In effect, people who are not in government would want to use you to create instability and they will be doing that to your detriment. If the government fails, all of them have failed, irrespective of what party they belong to and if the government succeeds, they have all succeeded. That ‘s how it is.
It is one government and government has three arms: the executive, legislature and judiciary. So they’re all part of government, not part of opposition or majority. And that is what I will always want them to keep at the back of their minds as they work … that they’re working for Rivers people, not necessarily for their parties.
What advice do you have for the majority on how To Accommodate The Opposition And How Should The Opposition Comport Themselves?
My advice first is on concepts. If I find myself in their shoes, I wouldn’t see myself as a member of an opposition, I’ll see myself as a member of Rivers State House of Assembly. You’re supposed to be a legislative scrutiny of executive initiative. It’s a collective responsibility. So, you see yourselves as members of one indivisible house but who came under the platform of different political parties. It’s like many children of the same parents. You may have your internal disagreements but they’re never fundamental enough to tear your family. So, brothers and sisters can disagree and settle tomorrow.
As far as a parliament is concerned, where fundamental issues arise, you always have alignments and re-alignments of political forces. It’s always there. So, let them know that they’re not there as opposition members. They’re there as members of Rivers State House of Assembly who came from another party.
I ask for guardedness of language. Even when we’re disagreeing on an issue, we do it in a spirit that is so enlightened. Politics is an enlightened discourse that involves philosophical modes. And that’s why I said that where fundamental issues arise, you’re bound to have alignments and re-alignments of political machineries but it doesn’t make me an opposition in government because I’m also a part of that government. If they have this mind, things will work well. It won’t be them and us. It will be just us and so it becomes a win-win situation for all Rivers people.
What Should Rivers People Expect From This 8th Assembly?
First, I expect the Assembly to work well with the executive. They’re there to ensure that Rivers State is raised to a high level of fulfillment and to do that, you need peace, you need harmony. So, let them create an enabling environment that will allow peace and harmony to thrive.
I even want to appeal to political gladiators in the state from all shades of opinions that it has pleased God to make one party control Rivers and another party control the Federal Government. This is not an election year, I therefore expect every Riversman, whether you’re in the party that controls federal or not, to allow peace to reign here and allow peace to reign there too. Let Nigerians benefit. Let Rivers State have peace and benefit from developments.
Those on the other side of the divide should cooperate with those on this side. Government is turn-by-turn. Wait till election and if you have the muscle to vote out, you do so but if you can’t, you accept what God has done.
For the rest of Rivers people I also expect that, we have produced leaders, we shouldn’t mess up our leaders whether they’re in A or B. Our leaders should have mutual respect for themselves. The younger generation should look up to those in offices. As far as I’m concerned, every office comes from God.
Today there’s just one governor in Rivers State and the state is also blessed to have a minister whom I expect to work in harmony with the governor on ground here in the overall interest of Rivers people at the centre too. So, there should be a meeting point. There should be a synergy of efforts.
What is your charge to the legislature in rivers state at a time like this?
The legislature in Rivers State has tried. We’ve had very trying moments. They rose beyond all forces and continued again. We saw what happened in the parliament of some states. We didn’t degenerate to that level. We believe in God that they will learn more.
After every election, new persons are injected into the parliament, they go through the rudiments and by the time they’re settled for work, people introduce confusion. They should allow these people to work and I believe that they too will do well if they’re allowed to work. We shouldn’t distract them.
We want to encourage them to work as a family and as a team in the over all interest of the whole Rivers people. We’re looking up to them. They’re our leaders today. That’s the truth.
Wherever we see them, we should accord them the honour they deserve and encourage them to do more. We shouldn’t pull them down. To whom much is given, much is expected. When they call you honourable, you should also carry yourself with a modicum of respect.