Speaking during an interview on Signature TV, legal practitioner Emeka Emekesiri spoke about the issue of political representation of the Igbo people in Nigeria’s National Assembly.
Emekesiri explained that the number of representatives from each region can influence the outcome of legislative decisions, particularly when lawmakers vote on bills that require majority support.
According to him, numerical strength often determines whether a proposal succeeds or fails in the Senate and other legislative chambers.
“Now imagine when you go to the Senate and you put a vote up and raise your hand; we [the Igbos] have only 15 hands to raise up, others will have 18 hands to raise up, others have 21 hands to raise up. They will defeat us, so we don’t have enough in the National Assembly to pass a bill in so many areas.”
He noted that concerns about representation have been part of ongoing discussions about political participation and regional balance in the country.
The legal practitioner said the situation sometimes makes it difficult for groups with fewer representatives to push certain legislative proposals forward.See_More…