As the 6th Akwa Ibom state house of assembly christened the" PEOPLE’S ASSEMBLY" ends it Second legislative year on June 8th, it is pertinent to note here that Many people attribute the success of Deacon Udom Emmanuel led government in the state to the actions of the state House of Assembly, from appropriation to oversight functions the Assembly has proved itself as the bastion of democracy.
Talking about Legislature, a Legislature is the arm of government that represents the people; they connect the people to government by giving the people a place where their needs can be articulated.
It is saddled with the duties of making good laws for the greater good and benefit of the people, and exercising oversight functions.
The legislature gives the people a say in shaping the laws that govern them and ratifies public policies through public hearings, all issues as they affect the well being of the constituents. Through oversight functions, they gets feedback on the performance and implementation of its laws.
It is however to the credit of the 6th Assembly that they have also discharge their duties creditably well as acknowledged by all well meaning and discerning citizens that their proactive support and the synergy with the executive, under the leadership of His Excellency, Deacon Udom Gabriel Emmanuel has been vindicated by the internationally acknowledged’’ Rise to Greatness initiative’’ and uncommon transformation that is ongoing in the State.
The success recorded by the sixth Assembly can be attributed to the leadership of the House under Rt. Hon.Barr.Onofiok Luke who has made accountability, transparency, and integrity the core value upon which the House run. This has forstard unity among members and ensured that they are focused in the discharge of their legislative Business.
Speaker Onofiok Luke had made the State proud in all ramifications. when the story of Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly is told, the name, Barr. Onofiok Akpan Luke will be mentioned copiously for good.
Less than 48 hours from now, June 8th, 2017 to be precise, Rt. Hon. Barr.Onofiok Luke would have served his sixth year as member representing Nsit Ubium State Constituency and 18th months , 10 days on the saddle as the 6th Assembly Speaker and also the 11th Speaker of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly.
With this development ; Barr.Onofiok Luke has written his name in the sand of time as the first Nsit Ubium son to occupy that position since the creation of the State in 1987.
Though the sixth Assembly had made some changes changes in his leadership where Hon.Aniekan Uko and his Deputy Hon.Effiong Bassey were removed from office as Speaker and Deputy respectively after six months, in the 2nd legislative year, the house also made some changes sacked Mr. Aniekan Bassey of Uruan State Constituency from the office of the Deputy leader of the house. Hon. Nse Essien was removed from the position of the Deputy Chief Whip and was replaced by Honourable Barr. Ime Okon.
😰Hon Aniekan Bassey was removed as Chairman House Service committee to Committee on Science and Technology while Hon. Otobong Ndem of Mkpat Enin takes over from him.
Hon. Effiong Bassey now chairman house Committee on Rural Development while Hon. Gabriel Toby takes over as Chairman committee of Commerce and Industry while Hon. Mark Esset also takes over as Chairman House Committee on Boundary and Conflict dispute.
So far, the sixth Assembly has recorded more progress and achievements compared to the previous assemblies.
The Lawmakers became more matured, good bills and concrete resolutions were passed into law, motions and private member bills were sponsored by the legislators, innovations and changes were brought into law-making through training .
the House now Witness better parliamentary practice and competitions among members in the area of sponsoring of bills and motions were enhanced. Constituency projects were executed by the lawmakers in their various constituencies as dividends of good representations.
It is on record that the Assembly under the watch of Onofiok Luke boasts of an array of top development from the laws and resolutions it passed, a feat achieved by very few Houses of Assembly in Nigeria.
Some are as follows, the House passed into law a total of 16 bills out of a total of 40 bills presented before it, in which 10 are private member bill and 6 executive bills.
The bills cover areas like education, health, governance, youth development / empowerment, economic and revenue generation, environment, judiciary, security and social development.
Similarly, 100 resolutions have been made out of 48 motions. In addition to the 100 resolutions, matters of urgent public importance and petitions including over 30 public hearing has been held.
The 6th Assembly also established the Akwa Ibom legislative internship programme (AKILIP).AKILIP is a six (6) months graduate internship programme initiated to expose interns to learning the rudiments of legislative business at a close range and also equipping the beneficiaries with soft and hard skills needed to sharpen the edges of their professional capabilities.
AKILIP, is the first major legislative internship programme sponsored by a state parliament in the country and many other achievements numerous to mention here.
It is necessary to stress that the Nsit Ubium -born politician Barr. Luke just one year, six months at the helm of affairs of Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly has seen the Assembly raised to become one of the most revered legislative houses in the country.
The 6th Assembly kept churning in development-oriented bills because it was managed by a seasoned politician.
Speaker Luke deserved to be appreciated for maintaining peace, law and order in the Assembly. In recent past, the Assembly had been a den of unruly attack by Newspapers and the public which made life unbearable for the lawmakers. Today, not only has the Assembly’s management rooted out the menace, it has returned serenity to the Complex.
As the encomiums keep coming the way of Speaker Onofiok, I urge him not to soft-pedal as he still have two more years of his speakership. He should keep on sustaining his cordial relationship with the press community and other arms of government .
kudos to Rt. Hon. Barr.Onofiok Luke for a successful completion of second legislative year as Speaker of the Sixth Assembly.
Congratulations Sir!
Victoria Anietie is Assembly correspondent for the Nigerian Pulse Newspaper.
No comments: