The lawmaker representing Sapele/Uvwie Federal Constituency of Delta State in the House of Representatives, Benedict Etanabene, has accused some politicians of prioritising efforts to impress President Bola Tinubu over serving Nigerians.
NEWSNGR reports that Etanabene, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), made the allegation on Saturday during an interview on Arise Television while speaking about the passage of the State Police Bill.
He argued that political actors were increasingly concerned with earning the approval of powerful leaders rather than examining whether their decisions served the public interest.
Etanabene said, “Many politicians are more focused on impressing President Tinubu than serving citizens. They want to be praised by their leaders.
“When people gather, they want to be able to say, look at what I did to that person. Whether what they did was right or wrong is not their concern. What matters is getting the approval and praise of their leaders.”
The federal lawmaker said his concern was particularly evident in the manner in which the executive version of the State Police Bill was considered by the House.
According to him, even some opposition lawmakers were willing to support the proposed legislation but wanted sufficient opportunity to scrutinise its provisions.
Etanabene said, “Many opposition party members would have even voted for the executive version of the State Police Bill.
“But even at that stage, what we were concerned about is: can we debate clause by clause? Because as opposition party members, we had the document.”
He maintained that lawmakers needed enough time to properly examine legislation, especially a constitutional matter as significant as the creation of state police.
Etanabene recalled that the House had previously worked on another version of the bill before abandoning it for the executive proposal.
He said, “Don’t forget that this bill was passed some months back, and by the Wednesday of that week, we came and receded it.
“The life of that one that we have been discussing before came to an end, and one was introduced by the executive that Wednesday, and by Thursday we had been told that we needed to pass it.”
The PDP lawmaker said the short timeframe forced some members to work through the night to study the document.
He added, “Some of us didn’t sleep that night because we went clause by clause looking at it and trying to rush it, but that’s not how it is supposed to be.
“We’re just trying to see how we can meet up with the pattern.”
