The Commissioner of Information in Abia State, Chief John Okiyi-Kalu has debunked rumours of rifts between the Executive and Legislative Arms in the state.
It was gathered that the decision of lawmakers in the state to refuse screening the nominee for Transition Committee Chairman, Umunneochi Local Government Area, Chief Eze Chikamnayo has in less than 24hrs generated bad blood among the government circles which many political watchers claimed could have been a sign of rift between the State Executive and the Legislative of government.
Okiyi-Kalu in a statement said that the rejection of Chikamnayo, who until his nomination was the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor of the State on Communication and Strategy has in no way affected the relationship between the two arms of government.
“The Constitution provides for the governor to nominate certain carders of appointees who will be screened and confirmed by the members of the State House of Assembly.
“That provision was made for a reason and the governor has followed the due process of the law by making his nomination and submitting the name for confirmation by the State Lawmakers.
“If the legislature through a screening, decides that a particular candidate will not be confirmed, I am sure that they will communicate formally to the governor.”
Asked if he thinks that it won’t be a slight on the governor that his nominee was rejected by the lawmakers, the state information commissioner said “it is the duty of the governor to nominate and the duty of the legislatures to screen and confirm the nominee(s).
“If for any reason the nominated persons(s) is fails to get the nod of the State Legislature, the expectation demands that they communicate formally to the governor. We are in a democracy; it is not something that anyone should be bordered about. All arms of government in Abia State are expected to do their duties diligently under the constitution.
“Let me use this opportunity to state that the Executive branch doesn’t have any issue, whatsoever with the (state) legislative arm. We support them in performing their constitutional duties at every point in time.
“They were three nominees. The first nominee was confirmed, the second nominee was stood down for a week, we are hopeful that he will be confirmed. The third one was rejected and we are yet to receive official communication on their reasons. When we receive that, we will decide on what to do. But it must be underlined that what they (lawmakers) have done is their constitutional role.
“We will ensure that after looking at their reason for rejecting to screen the (TC) nominee and if there are other windows available, we will explore that.
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“I want to assure the good people of Abia State that the Executive and the Legislative Arms of government are partners in progress. There is no conflict anywhere. We support all arms f government to continue to perform their constitutional role(s) and clearly spelt out in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,”said Okiyi-Kalu
