Tag: A’Ibom Assembly

  • CSOs laud Bill to upgrade the traditional institution in Akwa Ibom

    CSOs laud Bill to upgrade the traditional institution in Akwa Ibom

    By Ogenyi Ogenyi,Uyo

    A coalition of civil society groups in Akwa ibom have applauded the state government for sponsoring a Bill to the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly to upgrade the status of the Traditional institution in the State.

    They have however called for the financial independence of the traditional institution to enable the royal fathers play their roles as fathers for all without interference.

    The coalition made up of the Center For Human Rights and Accountability Network (CHRAN), led by Otuekong Franklyn Isong; People’s Rights to Life Development Foundation led by Comrade Ifot N. Ifot and Vital Partners for Development led by Dr. Victor David, made the assertion yesterday while addressing a joint press conference in Uyo.

    The group which noted that the Bill was timely and long overdue for the state however urged the government and the people of the state to accord the traditional stools the respect they deserve so as not to make the new initiative an exercise in futility.

    They called on the State House of Assembly to pass the Bill without any delay and urged Governor Umo Eno, to give assent to the Bill when passed and forwarded to him.

    They justified the intendment of the drafters of the Bill and saluted their courage, meant to accord the head of the traditional institution in the state the same status as other reverred monarchs like the Sultan of Sokoto, Ooni of Ife and the Obi of Onitsha.

    According to them, the law would legalize the new status accorded to the monarchs and confer on them c
    added rights and priviledges.

    Under the new law, the Ifim Ibi Ibibio would serve as the life President of the State Traditional Rulers Council, encompassing Paramount Rulers, Clan Heads and Village Heads, while his Annang and Oro counterparts would serve as the First and Second Vice President respectively.

    The Council would also have a chairman, meant to be rotated on a senatorial district basis and who would oversee the Paramount Rulers who are also heads of the traditional institution in their respective Local Councils.

  • A’Ibom Assembly Elect Otong as Speaker

    A’Ibom Assembly Elect Otong as Speaker

    By Ogenyi Ogenyi, Uyo

    Mr Udeme Otong – PDP member representing Abak state constituency has emerged the Speaker of 8th Akwa Ibom House of Assembly.

    Also elected was Mr Kufreabasi Edidem – PDP and member representing Itu state constituency as Deputy Speaker.

    Otong, a two-term lawmaker emerged after he secured 20 votes to defeat his only contender, Mr Ukpong Akpabio – PDP member representing Essien Udim state constituency, who scored 6 votes, at the inauguration of the 8th Assembly in Uyo on Friday.

    Otong was earlier nominated and seconded for the position of the speaker by Mr Effiong Johnson – PDP Mbo state constituency, and Mr Uwem Imo-Ita – PDP member representing Mkpat Enin state constituency, a first-timer in the house of assembly.

    The new speaker in his inaugural speech, thanked his colleagues for their confidence in his ability to pilot the affairs of the Assembly.

    He said the members had placed a big responsibility on his shoulders and solicited for their support and cooperation to succeed.

    Otong called on the lawmakers and people of the state to support and cooperate with the new Assembly to move the state forward.

  • A’Ibom Lawmaker Frees 189 Prisoners 

    A’Ibom Lawmaker Frees 189 Prisoners 

    By Odo Ogenyi, Uyo

    No fewer than 189 prisoners have regained their freedom from Custodial Centres across Akwa Ibom following intervention by a member of the State Assembly Mr Nse Essien in the last seven years.

    Essien who represent ONNA state constituency and just facilitated the release of 12 inmates of the Uyo Medium Correctional Centre to celebrate the new year explained that the yearly ritual was borne out of his compassionate disposition to the less-priviledged.

    It was gathered those released to breathe the air of freedom, were convicts, who were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment, but with option of fines ranging between N100, 000 to N200,000 respectively.

    And the lawmaker who offered to defray the fines on behalf of the beneficiaries to the tune of N1.5million, and advised them to live above board outside the confines of prison in order not to, again return to the custodial centre as societal outlaws.

    “In the last seven years, I have been doing this as part of my project as a lawmaker, to help make meaning out of those ones perceived to be bad actors that could never be reformed to become agents of positive change in the society.

    “You should know that believing in self-worth, is the major decider as to who you become tomorrow. Being a prisoner is not the end of your life; it’s part of the challenges of life to make you greater in future. 

    “Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, left the prison to become the President of Nigeria. Nelson Mandela, also left the prison to become the first President of the post-apartheid South Africa.

    “So, you should erase the shame and avoid the temptation of returning to this centre by respecting the human dignity in you by turning a new leaf to become change agents of peace and development to our society.” He stressed.

    The Assistant Controller of Corrections (ACC), Mr. Ebereonwu Ogueri, commended the Lawmaker for the gesture, describing his benevolence as highly commendable and in line with the dictate of the God Almighty to help the needy and the less-priviledged members of the society.

  • CSO berates A’Ibom Assembly over N45B supplementary bill, wants public scrutiny

    CSO berates A’Ibom Assembly over N45B supplementary bill, wants public scrutiny

    A Civil Society Organization, Policy Alert has described as suspicious the processing of a N45B supplementary Bill by Akwa Ibom Assembly calling on the lawmakers to subject the bill to public scrutiny.

    This is coming after Governor Udom Emmanuel made a fresh request for a N45B supplementary budget, less than one week after a public outcry may have stalled the Assembly from allegedly approving a N150B loan for the Governor.

    The supplementary bill, made up of N41B for Recurrent Expenditure and N4Billion for Capital Expenditure is coming just two months into the 2023 fiscal year and was received via a letter during plenary last Thursday.

    But the organization, promoting economic and ecological justice in the Niger Delta in a statement frowned at the haste to pass the bill and without the Assembly not subjecting it to public scrutiny

    The statement, signed by it’s Programme Officer, Fiscal Reforms and Anti-Corruption, Faith Paulinus
    also frowned at the non disclosure of items in the recurrent expenditure which make up.more than 90% of the supplementary bill.

    “The haste by the legislators to get this done makes the entire process highly suspicious. By asking the House Committee on Appropriation and Finance to report back to the House within 24 hours after the second reading, the leadership of the Assembly has indicated that it may not be interested in taking citizens’ inputs into account in the consideration of the controversial supplementary budget.”

    “We urge the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly allow sufficient time for thorough legislative scrutiny of this controversial supplementary appropriation bill and to subject the proposal to a public hearing in line with the traditional procedure of the legislature on bills and the principle of fiscal transparency and accountability.

    ” It would be an injustice and a slap on the collective intelligence of Akwa Ibom people to allow this supplementary budget to pass without giving citizens an opportunity to weigh the proposals against their actual priorities.

    “We call on the legislature to resist the temptation of being rushed to accept the supplementary proposals hook, line and sinker. They must learn to feel the pulse of the citizens and prioritize the overriding public interest over partisan loyalties and electoral concerns. They should prudently examine the provisions line by line against extant fiscal data.” It said.

    House Leader, Udo Akpan had said the Bill would increase the budget size of the state that was passed last year from N586Billion to N631Billion, an increase of N45Billion from when it was approved last year.

    The Bill was read the second time and referred to the House Committee on Appropriation and Finance to report back to the House within 24 hours but is expected to interface with relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies for further contributions on the Bill and legislative procedure before passage.

    A newspaper had earlier reported that recent moves to obtain a loan was a decoy to use the yet to be paid 13% arrears as a collateral while the loan was meant to fund elections for the Governor’s preffered candidate.

    “It could be recalled that in a string of Federal High Court judgments in 2021, the Federal Government had been ordered to pay $2.258 billion to Akwa Ibom State, $1.638 billion to the Delta State, $1.114 billion to Rivers State, and $951m to Bayelsa State, as share of recalculated oil derivation revenue in line with Section 16(1) of the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contract (PSC) Act

    “Instead of waiting like other three States of the Niger Delta which the judgment covered, Governor Udom Emmanuel, devised a means to tap into the expected billions of naira even without receiving payments directly from the federal government. That strategy was to use the judgment as a guarantee to obtain secret loans from commercial banks. Our sources revealed that the loan deal was struck with First Bank PLC.

    ” However, the information on the bank the State struck the deal with was not independently verified by this reporter. Yet, one of our sources mentioned that the Governor is using the strategy so that his administration can enjoy part of the refunds since he envisages that the tranches of payments of the refunds may not come in the life of his administration.

    “The reason for this loan, our sources who are privy to the plans confided, is to be used to run the 2023 elections and also enable the governor to have an upper hand in payment of delegates to ensure his succession plan flies

    ” Interestingly, this is not the first time the administration of Governor Udom Emmanuel would be acquiring loans secretly and under the mask of 13 percent derivation refund. This action which has gradually become a dark trend in the State dates back to July 2021.” The report said.

    It also indicted members of the state Assembly after they amended the standing order of the house to enable them deliberate and process a loan request from the governor secretly in return for monetary and political gratification from the governor

    “The standing order before the December 2020 amendment under Order 2 rule 2 (1) of the House tagged as ” Message from Governor” notes ” The Speaker shall immediately after prayer or as soon as any member has taken the Oath of Allegiance read to the House any message addressed to the House by the Governor.”

    “However, in the amended version which created sub-rule (4) the standing order reads that a message from the Governor can be deliberated during executive session if the House of Assembly deems fit. ” A message from the Governor can be deliberated at the executive session if the members deem it fit and proper to be so considered in exceptional circumstances.

    “TheMail has gathered that select members of the leadership of the House of Assembly in a meeting recently with the Governor consented that they would authorize the loan secretly so far their political interest in the 2023 election is protected and they also get a bite of the dark loan. Yet, it was agreed that this particular loan approval would not be discussed on the floor of the house else it would spark public outcry.” The report said.

  • A’Ibom Assembly approves N4.7B loan request from Gov Emmanuel

    A’Ibom Assembly approves N4.7B loan request from Gov Emmanuel

    Akwa Ibom Assembly has approved Governor Udom Emmanuel’s request to guarantee a loan of N4.7 Billion from Zenith Bank for Mimshac Digital Automobile Assembly Plant, Ikot Ukap, Itu Local Council.

    The Governor in a message forwarded to the Speaker of the House and read by the Clerk, Mrs Mandu Umoren at Plenary yesterday said the loan facility would aid the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the State Government and Mimshac Digital Ltd Automobile Plant for the sum of 10,000,000 Dollars, equivalent to N4.7Billion at the exchange rate of N470 per Dollar.

    According to the Governor, the said amount from Zenith Bank for Mimshac Digital Automobile would help “finance the procurement of Semi Knocked Down and Complete Knocked Down (CKD) parts for the assembling of 85 stainless steel, 20-Seater Luxury Buses.”

    The state Chief Executive in the message explained that the requested sum would also facilitate the training of 20 persons recommended by the state government on the assemblage and manufacturing of vehicles in Israel.

    Lawmakers in their separate contributions, pointed out that the Car Assembling Plant when fully functional, would boost the economy of the state and create more jobs for the teeming unemployed youths.

    In his remarks, the Speaker Aniekan Bassey, directed the Clerk to communicate the resolution of the House to the Executive Governor.