Drama at Delta Assembly as Ochei opposes Uduaghan’s bill

By Felix Igbekoyi / Asaba

The political supremacy battle between Delta State Governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, and the immediate past Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Hon. Victor Ochei, resonated on the floor of the House on Thursday evening.

During the debate on the Delta State Model Primary School Bill 2014, on the floor of the House, Ochei led an opposing debate against the bill, forcing the Speaker, Hon. Peter Onwusanya, to step down the bill and suspend debate on it.

Ochei said: “No child from my community would benefit from the law and, as for me, l cannot support such bill.”

Two-third of the lawmakers saved the plenary as they converged on the Speaker’s seat to advise him on the implication of the rowdy session and the need for a soft landing, which eventually led to the suspension of the debate.

The bill, an executive bill, originated from Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan just as Ochei was forced to resign as Speaker of the Assembly, owing to what a school of thought claimed has to do with his governorship ambition.

The bill, slated for second reading on Thursday and debated on the floor of the House, seeks to provide quality education for pupils, encourage and promote establishment of standards in the establishment of 10 model primary schools in the state.

It also seeks to provide a course of instruction with the use of Montessori method of teaching for the reception class and to promote discipline, hard work and scholarship.

The bill was moved by the Majority Leader, Hon. Monday Igbuya and seconded by Hon. Joseph Oshevire, representing Ehiope East constituency while Ochei led others against the bill, describing its disparity as a deprivation of quality education to Delta children and other pitfalls that negate the bill.

Ochei noted that the Assembly had earlier passed the state Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) law, which makes it compulsory for every Delta child to benefit from the free and compulsory education being run by the state government, claiming that school fees would be attached to the running of the model primary schools.

He said the idea of establishing in the Governor’s office, an Education Service Department to be headed by an executive director under the proposed law, clearly shows that the supervising Ministry of Education and SUBEB are not capable of supervising the schools, adding; “No child from my community would benefit from the law and, as for me, l cannot support such bill.”

Others like Joseph Oshevire, Dennis Omovie and Samuel Mariere agreed with Ochei that Deltans do not need a law to establish model primary schools in the state as the three such schools in Onicha Olona, Evwreni and Patani were established by executive fiat during the military era.

However, Igbuya disagreed with Ochei, saying that the bill seeks to avoid the bureaucratic bottlenecks associated with the civil service thereby making the schools directly accountable to the office of the governor.

Lawmakers, Tim Owhefere, Pat Ajudua, Basil Ganagana, Rufus Akpodiete, Irene Imilar and Kennet Daubry, claimed that the executive bill was an attempt to supervise a noble idea, saying that it would be difficult for government to get needed result if the schools are supervised by the Ministry of Education.

The Speaker, amid the confusion, stepped down the bill and suspended debate of the matter.