Abia Legislature Moves Closer to Full Autonomy, Constitutes Assembly Service Commission

Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia

The Abia State House of Assembly has finally constituted the State Assembly Service Commission (ASHASC) as part of the process to attain full autonomy for the legislative arm of government.
Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Emmanuel Emeruwa, announced the birth of the commission, Thursday, at a news conference in Umuahia, saying that the seven members of the body were screened and confirmed by the House two days ago.

He said that the birth of the Assembly Commission had passed through process of struggles over the years causing industrial disharmony between government and members of the Parliament Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN).
“The House of Assembly Service Commission in Abia State is now established,” he declared to the joy of the executives of Abia PASAN, who were on hand for the press conference.

“It is a step towards full autonomy and independence of the legislature,” the Speaker added.
He stated that with the issue of administrative autonomy of the legislature now settled, “the next thing we’re waiting for is to get financial autonomy, which we’re very optimistic will happen in this administration”.
The Abia Speaker stated that the Conference of House of Assembly Speakers has already “mapped out strategies to achieve financial autonomy” for state legislatures, adding that “the journey has started”.

But he was quick to acknowledge that attaining financial autonomy won’t be a tea party because it is among the powers state governors wield and “it is not easy to ask governors to relinquish some of their powers”.
The Speaker emphasised the need for the legislature to fully stand on its own, saying that “it is the engine room of government” as it is the body vested with constitutional powers to make approvals for government expenditures.

Emeruwa recalled the tortuous journey of the Service Commission to become a reality since the inception of the present democratic dispensation.
He said that the Sixth Abia House has now taken the bull by the horns by implementing the law on the Assembly Commission, which had been dormant since it was signed in 2019.
He said: “The Sixth (Abia) House tried and passed the bill into law but it was not signed. The Seventh House passed it into law and it was signed but not implemented”.

The Assembly Commission is composed of seven members with Hon. Uche Maduako, a former state and federal lawmaker as chairman while six other members comprise  two persons selected from each of the three senatorial zones of the state.
The Deputy Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Austin Okezie, noted that “everything was done right in accordance with the (enabling) law” in the establishment of the Assembly Commission.

In his remarks, the legislative liaison officer of the governor, Hon. Luke Ukara Onyeani, who was a member of the Sixth Abia House, said that he was happy the Eight Abia House has done its predecessors could not do.
He said that in the Sixth House “we fought hard to pass the bill (and get it signed into law) but it never happened” despite the pressure exerted by PASAN.
The former state lawmaker lauded Governor Alex Otti for keeping to his promise to grant full autonomy to the state legislature and commended the leadership and members of PASAN for their patience.

Chairman of Abia State Chapter of PASAN, Comrade Sunday Kalu, said that “it is a thing of joy” that the struggles of the union has finally paid off as the Assembly Commission has come to be.
He recalled that struggle started during the administration of then Governor Orji Uzor Kalu, which lasted from 1999 to 2007 but nothing was achieved due to “political reasons”.

Kalu regretted that when the law was finally passed in 2019 and “we celebrated” but it ended up not being implemented by the government.
He expressed gratitude to the leadership of the Sixth Abia House, especially the Speaker,  for making the establishment of the Abia Assembly Commission happen in the present dispensation.
The PASAN chairman urged the Abia Speaker “to do more” to achieve financial autonomy so that full autonomy of Abia legislature would become a reality.