Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly appeared to be under pressure in withdrawing a Bill that would have compelled the 31 local government Councils’ Chairmen to live in their headquarters.
The executive bill sent to the house for consideration and passage into law suffered heavy backlash from members of the public.
Apart from some castigating the state governor for pushing for the passage of the bill, others picked bones in the governor’s action in not sending bill of financial autonomy to the house for passage.
To the critics, they reasoned that it was unnecessary to have asked the chairmen who have few months to go to reside in their areas when the governor has not deemed it necessary to freely allow the Chairmen to access their monthly allocations accruable from the Federation Account Allocation Committee.
This, it understood, is caused by to the establishment of a Joint State/local Government Account that allows the state government to preside over the local government allocations in the state.
Straightnews gathered that most Chairmen were on the jugular of the state Governor by tacitly trying to withdraw their support for the Governor whose election petition is still pending in the Governorship Petition Election Tribunal.
It was equally alleged that supporters of the immediate past Governor Udom Emmanuel mounted pressure on him to prevail on his successor to withdraw the bill in the interest of peace and harmony in the state.
Owing to the pressure, the house withdrew the bill for a law to make the Chairmen of Local Government Councils in Akwa Ibom State to reside in their Local Government Areas during their tenure of office and for other connected purposes from further legislation by the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly.
Speaker of the Assembly, Elder Udeme Otong, ordered for the withdrawal of the Executive Bill following motion to that effect by the Deputy Leader of the Assembly, Barr. Otobong Bob (Nsit Ubium) and was seconded by the Chief Whip, Chief Effiong Johnson (Mbo) during Tuesday Plenary.
Although Barr. Bob, was the lead sponsor of the Executive Bill, he did not state reasons for the withdrawal of the Bill that was on cue for second reading.
The House Standing Order 7 Rule 11 made it clear that, “A member in-charge of a Bill may move a motion without notice for its withdrawal either before commencement of public business or on the order of the day for any stage of the Bill being read.”
Meanwhile, three other Executive Bills have successfully scaled second reading on the floor of the Akwa Ibom State of Assembly during Plenary Session.
They are “a Bill for a Law to make Special Provisions for Statutory Boards in Akwa Ibom State and for connected purposes, a Bill for a Law to Establish the Akwa Ibom State Bureau of Statistics and Akwa Ibom State Statistical System and for Other Matters connected therewith, and a Bill for a Law to Establish Ibom Peace Corps and for connected purposes.”
The bill on the statutory boards seeks to enact a law that would convey some corporate status on the Boards of Commissions, Agencies, Corporations, other bodies established by laws of the State, among others, while the Bureau of Statistics bill seeks to establish a bureau that would serve as the main State agency responsible for the development and management of official statistics.
The Peace Corps Bill seeks to establish a body that would complement the job security agencies in the State.
The Speaker referred the Bills to relevant House Committees for further legislative action.
The House adjourned plenary to Thursday, 14 September, 2023.
