By Dr. Tony Olisa Mbeki
When a legislator begins to treat the institution that gives him relevance with disdain, he forfeits the honour attached to his office. Hon. Bernard Udemezue’s suspension by the Anambra State House of Assembly is not an act of vendetta; it is a necessary step to preserve the dignity of the legislature.
Invited to substantiate his wild allegations and engage with his colleagues, Udemezue chose insult over engagement. He dismissed the House with the reckless label “ndi ara”—madmen. No parliament, anywhere in the world, would fold its arms while one of its own desecrates it so openly. By his words alone, he walked himself to the edge of discipline.
But the insult was only a symptom of a deeper problem. Instead of discharging his duty through debate, lobbying, and legislation, he has consistently chosen the path of theatrics. From his staged arrival in a tricycle at the Assembly gate—a desperate attempt to embarrass the institution over official vehicles whose timing he fully understood—to his unfounded allegations of financial mismanagement, Udemezue has preferred noise to substance. Lawmaking is not street drama; it is the sober work of policy and progress.
Beyond the chamber, his conduct has raised even more questions. Repeated incidents of violence and unruly behaviour, from personal scandals to public disruptions, reveal a pattern that undermines the dignity expected of an Honourable Member. The Assembly cannot afford to sit back while one man drags its name into ridicule.
Suspension, therefore, is not cruelty but caution. It is the House’s way of reminding him—and by extension, all members—that the legislature is bigger than any individual. To tolerate contempt within is to weaken the very foundation of the institution.
In the end, the issue is simple: a legislator who insults his colleagues, disregards decorum, and substitutes facts with noise cannot be allowed to carry on unchecked. The suspension of Bernard Udemezue is a defence of institutional integrity, a message that the hallowed chamber of Anambra State House of Assembly will not be reduced to a stage for rascality.