Member, representing Okpe Uvwie and Sapele in Federal House of Representatives, under Labour Party, (Labour Party), Benedict Etenabene said, Nigeria as a country has continued to experience retarded growth and development due to lack of separation of powers in the various organs of government in the country.

The Federal Lawmaker stated this on Monday while addressing news men in the Party’s Secretariat in Effurun in Uvwie Local Government Area Delta State.

He faulted the practice where an elected President of a country always work towards collapsing all organs of government into one executive controlled institution, noting that it does not help the growth of the country.

While stating that in the country today, there is no independent legislature since the President controls the National Assembly where he has the Speaker and leadership of his choice, he said the same apply at the state level where state Governors also prevailed on the choices of the Speaker and leadership of their various Houses of Assembly.

He explained that such collapse of these arms of government were largely responsible to why the legislative arms of government across the country were being referred to as a “Rubber Stamps” Assemblies by most Nigerians.

According to him: “High time, we begin to design the kind of democracy that will work for our peculiarities, usurping of the functions of government retards development and growth”.

Etanabene emphasized that a good electoral process is a path way to any successful democracy adding that, bad election gives room for all shades of humans to find their way into power which does not speak well for the country.

Speaking; “Under democracy, the most important agency of government is that which is responsible for elections. They are the gate ways to good or bad governance, where they organize bad elections, all sort of funny persons can easily find their ways to government, but where such elections are free and fair, it expresses the will of the people”.

The Federal Lawmaker frowned at the wave of decamping among politicians in the country with disregard to the Constitution of the country.

According to him, while the constitution allows freedom of association, by the provision of the electoral act, any legislature who decamps has to vacate the office he or she is elected except the party he or she represents has crisis as not been able to operate in its registered head office and where there is no legally recognized officers or leadership of such political party adding, such action has not only reduced the credibility of such decampees but the worth of democracy in Nigeria.

“The recent cross-carpeting of politicians from one party to another, has reduced the standard of credibility expected of highly placed individuals in the society”, Etenabenee said.

The Federal Lawmaker used the medium to let people know that Labour Party has no crisis in the country adding that, the contending issue is how to move the party to the next level.

According to him, at present, the events of the party nominees to the forth coming Anambra election are clear interpretations of the current position of affairs of the party.

“As we all know, LP headed by Barr. Julius Abure is operating from the National Headquarters of the party at Utako, FCT Abuja and he is duly recognized going by the official recognition by INEC in the forthcoming Anambra state Governorship election”, Etanabene said.

On the Coalition, he said that in a democratic setting, it is profitable to have opposition parties as any ruling party which does not want opposition Parties is anti-democratic and as such does not want the growth of such country.

Continuing; “I encourage all well meaning Nigerians who are not satisfied with the current ruling of leadership of style of Nigeria to join any of the opposition parties of their choice for purposes to put pressure on government for better performance”.

The existence of LP and the newly formed ADC is good for our democracy”, he concluded.