He made the explanation in his office on Tuesday 28th November, 2023, when some newsmen accosted him with questions bordering on his motivation to sponsor the private Bill and the impact it would have in the development of citizens of the state.
He said the Bill seeks to reward individuals of different walks of life and corporate entities who must have been seen and verified to have done meritoriously in their chosen fields of endeavours.
According to him, "The Bill will have a Council with a chairman and members who will be in charge of screening nominated members of the public for the award. This Bill will also take care of posthumous awards in the case of persons who are dead but are remembered for excelling in their chosen careers or have taken the risk of doing something extraordinary to save lives and properties in Delta State.
"The Delta Merit Award will serve as moral booster to Deltans who have done us proud as citizens whose actions and deeds have helped to advance societal growth and development. Take for example, our brother Stephen Keshi who excelled well in football and was given an award by the State Government, including having the State stadium named after him (now Stephen Keshi Stadium, Asaba). You also heard my colleague give an example with the driver of a burning tanker who decided against his own life, to drive the tanker into Agbarho river to minimise casualty in case of explosion.
"For any member of the State to be qualified for the award, such individual must be nominated, screened and approved for the merit Award. And when such an Award is deemed to have been given in error or in the event that the recipient gets involved in criminal or corrupt dealings going forward, the Award can be withdrawn.
"No member of the State Executive or Legislature is eligible for this Award until after five years of leaving office, no matter the record such public officer must have broken while in office. These stringent measures are to be in place to guard against any unscrupulous hijacking of the process.
"Again, the Council will be at liberty to appoint ad hoc committees to help in processing candidates' information before they are ratified and approved for the Award by the Council", Nwaobi explained.
Earlier at the plenary where the Bill was read a second time before being referred to the House Committees on Information and Special Bills to report back on 12th December, 2023, Hon. Nwaobi had urged his colleagues to give a nod to speedy passage of the Bill.
Credit: Patrick Ochei.