The Civil Liberties Organisation, Akwa Ibom State Branch, has accused Governor Udom Emmanuel for withholding assent to six people-oriented bills, but called on Akwa Ibom House of Assembly to override the governor’s veto.
These include A Bill for a Law to Prohibit Stigmatization and Discrimination against People Living with HIV/AIDS and to Regulate the Practice of HIV/AIDS Counselling and Testing and for other Matters Connected Therewith, and A Bill for a Law to Establish Akwa Ibom State Health Insurance Agency and for other Matters Connected Thereto.
Others are Akwa Ibom State College of Science and Technology Bill; the Customary Courts Bill and the Akwa Ibom Youth Development Fund Bill (AKYDF), among others.
At the Stakeholders Meeting, CLO asked members of the 7th the House of Assembly to invoke Section 100(5) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and pass into law bills which were passed by House and forwarded to the Governor but have not been assented to within the constitutionally permissible 30 days.
The CLO’s position was made known by its State Chairman and State Secretary, Otuekong Franklyn Isong and Christopher Ekpo, a lawyer, at a public presentation on Wednesday, August 25.
It noted with dismay that the state Governor has withheld assent to many laudable and people-oriented bills passed by the 7th House of Assembly without the requisite constitutional action by the House of Assembly pursuant to Section 100(5) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).
CLO, therefore, urged the State House of Assembly to invoke the provision of Section 100(5) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and pass such bills into law for the benefit of the state.
Speaking on the two bills discussed at the forum, it hailed as commendable pieces of legislation bills which seek to outlaw the stigmatisation and discrimination of persons living with HIV/AIDS, protect the society at large from exposure to HIV/AIDS infection and as well ensure that every resident of the State has access to quality and affordable health care services.
CLO, however, appealed to the State Governor Udom Emmanuel, to expeditiously assent to the bills once they are passed by the State House of Assembly and forwarded to him.
