Members of the Orlu Gong/Orlu Peoples Assembly have demanded a written explanation from the senator representing Imo West in the National Assembly, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, why he was absent last week from the Red Chamber during the voting on the electronic transmission of election results, an integral part of the Electoral Amendment Bill.
In a statement, Fidel Anujuo, the president/chairman of the Board of Administrators of the assembly, said they could not understand Okorocha’s “curious” absence on a day that such a critical bill that is of great interest to constituents was billed for voting.
“As a senator representing one of the largest senatorial zones (Imo West) with 12 local government areas, with extensive geographical boundaries radiating (sic) from Ohaji Egbema in the southernmost boundary of Imo State on its border with Rivers State, to Ideato North LGA on the northernmost boundary of Imo State on its border with Anambra State, you cannot be unaware that the physical transmission of votes in our zone poses a perennial challenge and electronic transmission of votes represented an opportunity for us to overcome this handicap that imperils our mandate and our lives in every election,” the statement said.
The assembly said it viewed Okorocha’s recent action the same way it viewed his “absurd preference” for the chairmanship of the Culture and Tourism Committee in the Senate instead of the Ecological Committee “which is of greater interest to us as an erosion-prone territory.”
The assembly noted that by Okorocha’s inauspicious absence from the Senate chamber, he had denied his constituents the opportunity to express their position on the issue by casting their vote for electronic transmission “along with other progressive minds so that future generations will know that we choose a digital democratic culture, not an analog one.”
“We request for a written explanation from you, which must be published and caused to be seen by your constituents and interested members of Nigerian public within seven days from the receipt of this letter,” it added.