By Aniebie Antia
Mrs Esara
There has been a lot of activity since the petition against the Transition Chairman of Itu Local Government Area, Mrs Elsie Esara was submitted to the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly (AKHA), by some supervisors from the Council, leading to an invitation by the House's Committee on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs that unfortunately culminated in an avoidable but lavish spectacle of shame and childish ignorance by the Esara, on the floor of the Assembly.
Many who are conversant with civil, legislative and democratic practices, commended the supervisors for adopting the legally prescribed approach to uncover alleged misappropriation of council funds, abuse of office and other irregularities leveled against Mrs. Esara. However, those with moral compasses twisted beyond comprehension, who see nothing wrong in the steady and massive plundering of the Itu Local Government's Internally Generated Revenue (IGR),
Anietie Okon
to line the pockets of supposed political "Godfathers" and "mentors" resorted to salvos of infantile, illogical and baseless media attacks on the person of Hon. Idongesit Ituen, and the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly.
The latest of such skewed and misdirected write ups with intent to glorify irregularities, come from a faceless and non existent group 'ITU PATRIOTS FORUM' with the. Caption; 'BEFORE IDONGESIT ITUEN RUNS MAD' and signed by Elder Edem Linus and Silas Uboh, purportedly as Chairperson and Secretary, respectively. In the said letter, the group feebly attacked Hon. Ituen, wrongly accusing him of being the brain behind linking the First Lady, Mrs Martha Udom Emmanuel, to the alleged embezzlement of council fund. They also attempted to cast aspersion on the AKHA. Before we go further, let's ponder on the following:
1. In the petition signed by; Hon. Ubong Edem, Supervisor for Works, Hon. Kufre Ema, supervisors for Special Duties, Hon. Emem Uboh, Supervisor for Health, Hon. Anthonia Udoette, supervisor for Women Affairs and the Secretary of council, Hon. Etido Udoibit. Mrs Elsie Esara is alleged to have claimed to use the IGR to "settle" the First Lady, Mrs Martha Emmanuel's bills, and pay certain stake holders in the Local Government, including ; Sen.. Anietie Okon, Dr. Henry Archibong, Prince Idongesit Ituen, Mr. Akan Okon and Mr. Victor Okon and Mr Effiong Ebong Okon.
2. That it took Esara 29 days of prodding to offer her apology to the First Lady, indicates that the shameful and ignoble behavior she exhibited on the floor of the State Assembly, where she unwittingly admitted to being 'ill advised" by her political leader and "mentor" Senator Anietie Okon, to snub the House Committee's invitation, is more of a trait.
3 Is it not obvious to all that whenever the Transition Chairman is confronted with disturbing or incriminating facts, instead of proffering facts to defends herself, she prefers to spew all kinds of half baked and spurious stories that would implicate highly placed persons.
That is why she probably listed Mrs. Udom Emmanuel as one of the benefactors of the revenue funds when confronted by the petitioners who preferred not to join in the looting spree. However, when all that failed to deter the petitioners, she resorted to blackmail and lies.
For one not in tune with democratic and legislative practices, it is not strange to hear them childishly and naively allege that the petition lacks credibility, simply because Nigeria's anti graft agencies, like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is not involved.
Ignorance certainly reside where this hurriedly patched combination of alphabets came from and it glaring those behind it need a lecture on the modus operandi of anti graft agencies.
I'll go ahead to highlight certain questions, begging for answers, which you or your sponsors should have tackled before embarrassing yourselves with this incoherent grammatical assemblage.
Is it not a fact that before the Esara's era, =N= 200, 000 (two hundred thousand naira) was the weekly proceed from Etaha market, paid into the Council's purse after all necessary and legal expenses? and that shortly before she took over, the sum of five hundred thousand naira was deposited as the weekly proceed from the market. This was repeated in 2 consecutive market days before she was sworn into office.
But in sharp contrast to this, Mrs Elsie Esara failed to make return in December, and that she has deposited two hundred thousand naira only as monthly proceed from the same market that had generated far above that in a week in previous cases.
This could only imply that fifty thousand naira is all that has been raised weekly from the market since she assumed office. The above mentioned figures were presented by the Director of Finance, Elder Wilson E. Wilson Uya.
In a published sophistry, credited to Senator Anietie Okon, he vilified the 6th Assembly of the AKHA and tried to clear Mrs Esara of any wrong doing, undermining the legislative rights of the state legislature. In other clime, he would be arrested and tried for making inciting comment or treason.
Why should any right thinking person attempt to fault the House of Assembly for inviting a woman whose appointment was made possible by their instance.
Is the House supposed to turn a blind eye over allegations of financial impropriety? Or did the House of Assembly cause the "blackout" she claimed to have suffered?
Do you expect Prince Ituen to sacrifice his legislative obligation on the alter of mediocrity and selective and unorthodox "settlements"?
Just two days ago, while answering questions over the petition brought against her, she publicly admitted that she is guilty of not following due process amidst other misdemeanor.
She also denied being aware of kind of attack or intimidation from Prince Idongesit Ituen, as alleged my some person whose intention is to ensure the brazen rape of Itu Local government continues, she further described Senator Anietie Okon's remarks about the House as "harsh."
What can be deduced from all this is that an incompetent pawn had been foisted on the people of Itu Local Government Area, with the sole mandate to milk the Council's treasury dry, for the benefits of her "mentor".
Okon Okon Edem. writes from Mbak Ibio itam, Itu Local Government Area
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