ORLUZURUME YOUTHS TASK LAWMAKERS ON QUALITY REPRESENTATION

The umbrella socio-political association for youths drawn from the 12 local government areas of Imo West senatorial district, Orluzurume Youths Assembly, has called on lawmakers from the zone to have physical offices where constituents can make complaints.

President, Orluzurume Youths Assembly, Prince Izunna Obiefule, said this during the formal presentation of the 72-page report on the legislative performance assessment committee report in Orlu.

According to him, many lawmakers from the zone do not interface with the people, saying it counts for poor representation.

Obiefule said the report was the outcome of the performance of the 17 lawmakers representing the zone at different levels based on the interactions with the people across the 12 local government areas.

He said the assessment report was conducted by the Legislative Performance Assessment Committee (LPAC) headed by Mr. Achi Nnamdi over the representation of the 12 lawmakers at the State House of Assembly, four members of the House of Representatives, and the Senator representing the zone.

According to him, the assessment was based on the concerns raised by the constituents on issues centred on inadequate constituency engagement, limited public accountability, weak communication of legislative activities, and insufficient empowerment programmes.

He said the report was not intended to ridicule, embarrass, or prosecute any lawmaker, but rather it was a sincere civic effort to strengthen democratic accountability and encourage excellence in public service.

According to the group, the highest scored is 60 marks out of the 100, while the lawmaker who had the worst representation scored only 15 marks.

The youths president added, “The assessment is a contribution to building a democratic culture in which performance is measured, leadership is evaluated fairly, and elected representatives remain connected to the aspirations of the people they serve”.

Chairman of the Legislative Performance Assessment Committee, Achi Nnamdi said the committee members interfaced with all the people across the villages and communities in the Orlu senatorial zone, adding that the indices were painstakingly gathered.

He said investigations showed that the lawmakers did not have constituency office or interface with their representatives.