Ahead of today’s valedictory session of Enugu House of Assembly, outgoing leader, Ikechukwu Ezeugwu, has admonished incoming members to put aside their party differences and work for the overall good of the state.
Ezeugwu, who spoke in Enugu, yesterday, said there was no need for friction between the Labour Party members-elect and their Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterparts.
Speaking from experience, the third-term representative of Udenu state constituency, said the superior number of LP members-elect in the yet-to-be-constituted House could be of advantage to the state.
He said any rancor in the Assembly would adversely affect the growth and development of the state as any executive bill would suffer accordingly.
“I envisage a very robust legislative House but suffice it to say I also foresee that if not properly managed, it might be very unfriendly, highly unproductive to the people of Enugu State. Given the configuration of 14 members-elect for LP and 10 for PDP members, and given the background of the election and how the members-elect came to be, I can only advise they should understand elections and politics are over and the most important thing now is to work together for the benefit of Enugu people.
“In an atmosphere of quarrels and antagonism, it will be difficult for them to do the needful, to pass relevant bills for the system to move forward. There is no need to say we belong to LP or the PDP. At a certain time, yes, but when it comes to making the system work, they should put the people of the state first. That is the only way to go, because from experience, the moment there is a problem in the House of Assembly, the whole state will be in trouble.
“The moment the executive brings an executive bill that will help move the state forward and people put spanners here and there, it will not even be to the interest of those who elected them, irrespective of the political party they belong to and this should be uppermost in their minds. If they fight themselves, the people who elected them whether in party A or party B will not even be happy with them,” he said.
Ezeugwu further said the Assembly slots should be left for intelligent people who could make valuable contributions during proceedings and not used for political settlements.