…By Ikenna Samuelson Iwuoha…
My resignation as the senior special Assistant on Special Duties to
the Speaker of Imo State House of Assembly has continued to generate
uproar in the state and beyond, especially with my memo to the Speaker
which I have also made public (see attached). The memo in its entirety
has elicited reactions from members of the public and it is on this
note that I have decided to go deeper in exposing the rot going on in
the legislative arm of government by writing the article entitled,
“ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY IN IMO STATE: THE LEGISLATIVE
PERSPECTIVE.
The question now is: What is ACCOUNTABILITY? What is Transparency? Or
better put; what is Accountability and Transparency in relation to
public service in Imo State? How do we get political Appointees
involved? Accountability is defined as the act of giving and rendering
account of ones stewardship. It should be noted that stewardship
itself is a very important ingredient (variable) of Accountability.
Without stewardship, there will be no accountability.
Therefore, Accountability is the outcome of stewardship. Stewardship
has two legs namely;
Representational Accountability and Financial Accountability. Let me
take them one after the other.
(1) REPRESENTATIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY: This refers to that aspect of
Accountability that concerns our legislators who are our honourable
members representing the various local Government Areas at the Imo
State House of Assembly. Representational Accountability is that
variable which ensures that our Honourable members are made to give
their stewardship report card to the people of their constituency.
Therefore, if it is seen that a particular legislator in the State
House of Assembly is not performing well, he or she can be sanctioned
through a re-call or wait patiently for him at the end of this
legislative tenure when he would seek for re-election or any other
higher position. The people of that constituency can then vote against
him. The electoral “emolument” is the dividends which the elected
representative is able to attract to his constituency. This includes
presentation of good bills (laws) and motions that are people
oriented, provision or attraction of good roads, equipped schools,
boreholes, modern farming equipment, scholarships, job opportunities,
industries, youth and women empowerment etc. Therefore when the above
dividends are lacking in a particular constituency, then the member
representing the constituency is held accountable.
(2) FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY: This variable involves the use of public
funds in the execution of projects. Conversely, it implies that public
funds are not diverted or converted into individual use. Therefore, it
is totally safe for me to conclude that Accountability is the putting
of a public official in a position where he or she must give account
of his stewardship either during his tenure in office or after his
tenure in office. Nonetheless, because of the nature of the Imo
“Environment”, it is no longer advisable to wait for a public servant
(Speaker, Deputy Speaker, Majority Leader, Minority Leader, chief
Whip, other Honourable members and Political Appointees) to finish his
tenure before his stewardship can be assessed. This is because after a
serious research, I discovered that Accountability in Imo State is at
the very low ebb. It has totally declined to an abysmal level.
Therefore I am propounding the following measures to check this
decline in Accountability. They are as follows:
(a) THE PRESS: The press is the mouth piece of the society. Infact the
press should be as bold as a lion in exposing corrupt public
officials. No matter the intimidation, the press should stand firm.
This is because the pen is mightier than the sword especially now that
the freedom of information bill has been passed by the National
Assembly. The press is a major tool that must be used to check the
decline in Accountability in Imo State. Not long ago, yours sincerely
used the press to expose or alert the public on the fraudulent
activities going on at the Imo State House of Assembly (office of the
Speaker), although I am yet to give full details. Specifically, the
Chief of Staff to the Speaker of Imo State House of Assembly, Mr.
Kodichi Anamekwe is massively involved in road contract fraud,
imprest fraud, employment racketeering, salaries scam, General supply
fraud and other sundry frauds. Full details will be provided in my
PART TWO of this article. What is the duty or responsibility of the
Chief of Staff to the Speaker? His duty is to assign responsibilities
to the other aides of the Speaker. If he fails to assign jobs to the
aides, then he should be held accountable or responsible. His other
job is to make sure that duties assigned to aides are effectively and
efficiently executed. In-short his job is to make sure that the office
of the Speaker is perfectly functioning without sentiments. Which law
empowers the Chief of Staff to the Speaker to award road contracts in
Imo State? Which law empowers the Chief of Staff to delve into road
construction while still retaining his job as Chief of Staff? Which
law empowers the Chief of Staff to go outside his confinement of
duty/duties to run after road contracts both for himself and for his
fronts? Like I said, full blown details will be provided in PART TWO.
Again the current Acting Senior Special Assistant on Media to the
Speaker, Mr. Emeka Ahaneku (fast fast) is massively involved in
stealing and diversion of stipends meant for correspondents. The press
was also used to expose this fraud.
(b) JUDICIAL CONTROL: There should be judicial control in everything
we do in public service. This is because if there is no judicial
control, public servants will be bound to abuse their positions of
authority. Conversely, any public servant who violates the law should
be punished. This is because it is through the assistance of the
judiciary that public service in Imo State is checked and controlled.
(c) PRESSURE GROUPS: The welfare of the masses is the concern of this
group. The demand of job specialization from government is the
function of the pressure group. If certain policies of the government
are affecting the poor masses, members of this group can react by
responding at the cries of the masses. Example abound, NUT, NUJ, NLC,
Students Unions, Age grades, Town Unions, Human Right groups, The SLAP
Initiative. For instance, the SLAP Initiative, a leadership initiative
in Imo State was used to expose how the previous government connived
among themselves to loot the resources of this state. Representations
were also made to the EFCC, ICPC and Force Headquarters.
(d) LEGISLATIVE CONTROL: The Imo State House of Assembly is supposed
to be the watch dog of the society. Conversely, a public official who
embezzles money or is involved with fraud and scam could be dragged to
the floor of the House of Assembly for his conduct or Mis-conduct. But
how far this has been done by the Assembly is left for the court of
public opinion to judge. It is an acknowledged fact that I Citizen
Ikenna Samuelson Iwuoha wrote a letter to the Speaker of Imo State
House of Assembly on the 7th of November 2013, exposing the
involvement of his Chief of Staff (Mr. Kodichi Anamekwe) in massive
fraud. The said letter was also copied to honourable members and the
clerk of the house. I also requested that a panel made up of
honourable members should be set up and which must invite me in the
presence of Pressmen to prove my allegations against his Chief of
Staff. The Speaker refused, rather he gave me a query on the 13th of
December 2013 (36 days later). Intrigues followed after I responded to
the query and when I sensed danger, I quickly resigned. It is
pertinent for me to state that if a panel had been set up and I failed
to prove my allegations against the Chief of Staff, then a query would
then have been necessary. But in my case, Rt. Honourable Benjamin
Uwajumogu failed to set up the panel. He rather chose to protect his
Chief of Staff. He rather chose to cover fraud. He rather chose to
protect a fraudster. He rather chose to protect a criminal and a thief
in his office. So in effect, there is no legislative control by the
Speaker of Imo State House of Assembly over fraudulent public
officials at the Assembly. If there is legislative control at the Imo
State House of Assembly, the Speaker would have set up a panel to
probe my allegations against his Chief of Staff. To solve this
perennial problem of legislative unreasonableness and madness, there
is need to have efficient and effective leadership in the Imo State
House of Assembly that is anchored on truth, sincerity, honesty and
love. At this point, let me point out that the legislature as an arm
of government performs three functions namely, (a) Law making (b)
Appropriation and (c) oversight functions. The legislature can never
usurp the functions of the executive, just as the executive can never
usurp the functions of the legislature. How come the office of the
Speaker is massively involved in the award of road contracts
(including supply of asphalt to contractors) ? This singular act has
made the legislature in Imo State not to have legislative control over
the “Little” excesses of the executive.
(e) ADMINITRATIVE CONTROL: This is that aspect of administrative
management which is concerned with the interpretation of State policy
and implementation of the policies for the development of the state.
Conversely, administrative control helps to ensure Accountability in
that there are rules and guarding regulation directing the activities
of civil servants and political Appointees in government.
(f) EFCC: This is an agency that the Federal Government established
few years ago to help check financial crimes and other related
activities of public servants. Therefore, any citizen of Imo State who
is not satisfied with the way a particular public servant is carrying
his duty can report that official to the EFCC for Proper
investigation. It is a notorious fact that the Chief of Staff to the
Speaker of Imo State House of Assembly (Mr. Kodichi Anamekwe) has been
reported to the EFCC via a copy of a letter written to the Governor of
Imo State. They will be fully involved if the Governor fails to act on
the letter. This is to ensure Accountability.
(g) ICPC: This agency has similar functions like EFCC.
(h) FORENSIC AUDITING: Auditing is the efficient cross-examination of
the accounts of an agency, ministry or an arm of government to ensure
that there are no frauds in a given period of time. Conversely,
forensic auditing is the act of auditing the accounts of government
ministries, agencies including the State House of Assembly by
professionals and experienced auditors. No matter how a fraud or scam
is perpetuated, a forensic auditor will surely find out.
(i) FORCE HEADQUARTERS: This is the headquarters of the Nigerian
Police force in Nigeria. Their primary duty is to maintain law and
order. Therefore it is assumed that once a report of corruption or
corrupt practices against a public servant is reported to them, they
would swing into action. It is on record that I have alerted them on
the fraudulent activities of the Chief of Staff to the Speaker of Imo
State House of Assembly, Mr. Kodichi Anamekwe via a copy of a letter
written to the Governor of Imo State. This is to ensure
Accountability.
MY LEGISLATIVE EXPERIENCE
This has already been over flogged by so many commentators in the
state. But be that as it may, I will quote verbatim what one of the
commentators and correspondents (Chinyochaobi Israel Uhuegbu) with the
state Assembly wrote of me. “As SSA on Media, Samuelson took off on a
sound note and within few weeks he captured the media industry (both
prints and electronics) for his lovable master. Ben Uwajumogu’s image
and office was the envy of other state speakers. The Imo State House
of Assembly vibrated both locally, nationally and internationally. Our
concern is, why did those recorded successes now nosedived into close
to failure? Citizen Ikenna Samuelson took Uwajumogu to the high
mountains and made him and his office very attractive, marketable,
investor friendly, such that the media department in the IMHA even
covered some avoidable leakages at the Executive arm of government.
The dexterity of the former senior media aide to speaker in media
matters quickly helped in stabilizing and consolidating Rt. Hon. Ben.
Uwajumogu as a Speaker. As a concerned correspondent, I and my
colleagues cherished this humble political appointee being that he
respected us, treated us well, gave us authority to be friendly to
good governance, increased our monthly stipend from N3,000 to N5,000
and finally to N10,000. He was very honest with us to a fault.
When we had personal problems, Samuelson was handy to proffer solution
to the problems. He paid hospital bills for our sick children, paid
school fees for our kids, he got his boss (the Speaker) to sponsor our
weddings, burial ceremonies for our loved ones. These are some of the
attributes of a worthy media aide. He paid antenatal hospital bill for
our wives, gave us love, care and overwhelming protection. He
encouraged us to form a union at the Assembly to strengthen the bond
of unity, friendship and love. When we run into problems with
publishers, and editors Samuelson was handy to intervene. Inshort he
was a leader to beat. He excelled. This inadvertently catapulted
speaker Uwajumogu into a worthy great son of Imo State. Samuelson gave
us Christmas bonuses. Samuelson got the Speaker to furnish NUJ state
Chairman’s office. Samuelson facilitated the Speaker’s Sponsorship of
Imo NUJs Executive trip to Abuja on a National convention in 2012”.
Also the leadership of the correspondents’ chapel of IMHA wrote a
letter to the Speaker on the 18th of July 2013. Part of the content of
the letter said, “Sir, the good image you have today in state and
beyond through your son (Samuelson) has continued to endear Imolites
and Nigerians to you”. The letter was signed by Mr. Chigozie Uzosike
(Chairman), Mr. Val Nduka (Secretary), Onyinyechi Amakulo (PRO). Also
in a message to me on the 1st of June 2012 by the NUJ state Chairman
(Sir Innocent Igwe), he said “My dear SA Media, I thank you immensely
for facilitating the sponsorship of Imo delegates to the NUJ National
delegate’s conference by the Rt. Hon. Speaker. You have by that
singular act proved to be a press friendly personality and NUJ will
ever appreciate the gesture. Thanks a million”!! Again, in
appreciation of my activities at the House of Assembly, the Institute
of the Chartered Administration inducted me as a fellow in the last
quarter of 2011. And others too numerous to mention.
I have taken time to list some of the comments by people on my sojourn
at the Assembly in order to show that for leadership to be
acknowledged, it has to be transparent. It has to be accountable to
the people. Leadership must have human face and orientation. I did not
steal. I even returned unspent funds to the Speaker (which ordinarily,
I could have used my pen to retire such funds). My transparency at the
office made the Chief of Staff (Mr. Kodichi Anamekwe) and his
Ihitte/Uboma cabal to hate me with passion. Whenever I returned
unspent funds to Mr. Speaker, they would shrink their faces with envy,
anger and more hatred. They expected me to share unspent funds with
them rather than returning it to the speaker. They felt threatened by
my continued presence in the office. I refused to be part of their
fraudulent exploits. So they hated me and wanted me out by all means.
They saw me as an outsider among them. Full details will be provided
in PART TWO. I was very effective and efficient. Even in the face of
pressure I was transparent. Therefore, transparency in relation to
Accountability is a situation where there can be no doubt, no mistake
or confusion about leadership. When a leader is genuinely accountable
to the people, that is transparency. When a leader ensure that
stipends (salaries) of correspondents (workers) are paid as and when
due, that is transparency. When a leader listen to the cries of the
people (e.g. correspondents) by solving their personal problems, that
is transparency. It shows that the leader is already accountable to
the people. This is selfless leadership.
Therefore, Accountability and transparency has a direct relationship
with leadership when the people are involved. Accountability,
stewardship and transparency in government will have meaning when
those in position of authority genuinely show the road that leads to
honest leadership which will inadvertently provide the much needed
dividends of democracy.
From the above, it is very obvious that the office of the Speaker of
Imo State House of Assembly failed woefully in this regard by not
setting up a probe panel that would invite me to prove my allegations
against Mr. Kodichi Anamekwe (The Chief of Staff). The Rt. Honourable
Speaker has rather chosen to protect and hide his very corrupt Chief
of Staff and other aides from the prying eyes of the public. I will
therefore have no alternative than to prove the criminal and corrupt
activities of Mr. Kodichi Anamekwe in the court of public opinion,
using my known network and machinery.
Finally, let me restate once again that my nature as a socio-political
crusader does not allow me to keep quite when things are continually
going wrong in my environment.
I rest my pen.
Citizen Dr. Ikenna Samuelson Iwuoha FCAI
Former Senior Special Assistant on Media
Immediate past Senior Special Assistant Special Duties