The Abia State House of Assembly on Tuesday said it received 75 bills between 2023 and 2026 and successfully passed 38 into law as part of its three-year scorecard.
Speaker, Rt. Hon. Emmanuel Emeruwa, disclosed this while addressing journalists at the Assembly Complex, Umuahia, to mark its third anniversary.
The 8th Assembly, inaugurated on June 14, 2023, is made up of 24 members.
According to the Speaker, the Assembly had prioritised lawmaking, oversight, and a peaceful working relationship with the Executive to deliver good governance to Abia residents.
“We’ve had so many laws within these three years, which are in the public domain. From welfare laws to criminal laws and political operation laws, we’ve covered all grounds.
“There are too many laws that you may even say we should stop making laws for now, to implement the ones we’ve already done,” Emeruwa said.
He said a detailed handout containing all motions, resolutions, bills passed, and pending bills from 2023 to date would be made available to the public.
Emeruwa attributed the Assembly’s stability to what he described as a “very cordial and harmonious” relationship with Gov. Alex Otti’s administration.
“The relationship between the House and the Executive is very cordial and harmonious and we intend to keep it that way till the end of this Assembly.
“Once there is a rift between the two arms, the state will suffer. The progress we are doing today will not be there,” the Speaker said.
He said that members usually resolved their differences behind closed doors before bills got to plenary.
“Any bill that I bring to the floor will have favourable consideration. If not, I will not bring it down. That is how we are functioning,” he noted.
On rising insecurity, Emeruwa said the House had been engaging security agencies to “up their game” and had transmitted resolutions to the Executive and Judiciary for action.
He cited the establishment of ‘Operation Crush’ and community policing as executive responses to threats in the Umunneochi Local Government Area.
To improve transparency, he announced an ongoing plan to digitalise the House.
“Once achieved, at the press of a button you can get all you need from this House of Assembly.
“By the time we leave this House, we would have gone far or even finished the programme to digitalise the House of Assembly,” he said.
He also noted the growth of the Labour Party caucus from nine members at inauguration to 20 members currently.
“If we are not doing well, other legislators will not join us,” he said.
Deputy Speaker, Rt. Hon. Austin Mmeregini, corroborated the Speaker’s position, saying the harmonious relationship with the Executive was due to Emeruwa’s experience as a former local government chairman.
“For the press, you are usually excited when you hear that legislature and executive are fighting. Unfortunately for you, we have disappointed you in that regard.
“We have our differences, but we sort them out at the executive session where the press is not privy. What you see at plenary is smooth and harmonious,” Mmeregini said.
On constituency projects, Mmeregini said every constituency receives a minimum funding allocation yearly and lawmakers are involved in contractor selection.
“Hence, you hardly find any constituency that has not enjoyed reasonable project execution,” he said.
He listed key laws passed by the Assembly to include the Homeland Security Bill, the Greater Aba Development Authority (GADA) law, and the amended Umuahia Capital Development Authority (UCDA) law, which he said had fast-tracked infrastructure development in Aba and Umuahia.
