The Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly has yet to repeal the
outrageous pension law which provides N100m medical allowance for former
governors and N50m for their deputies.
Our correspondent, who monitored the legislature’s plenary,
on Tuesday, observed that the House deliberated on Local Government Amendment
Bill, which had been before the House since some months ago.
On June 3, the state governor, Mr. Godswill Akpabio, in a
statement in Lagos, said he would instruct the state house of assembly to
expunge the controversial sections of the law once the House sat in the week.
Chairman, Civil Liberties Organisation, Akwa Ibom State, Mr.
Clifford Thomas, said it was a fraud for the state house of assembly to
deliberate on local government amendment bill when the pension law for former
governors and deputy governors were yet to be considered.
He revealed that he had been reliably informed that it was
only section 3 of the law that would be amended. He added that any amendment
that conflicts with the interest of the people will be resisted.
He said, “The action of the Akwa Ibom State House of
Assembly is bad. When the governor gives them executive bill, they will pass it
quickly. But when a bill is in the interest of the people, the House will
either delay it or will not do anything about it.
“The action of the state legislators is shameful. People are
now losing interest in them as their representatives.”
Efforts to speak with some members of the House, Mr. Kufre
Etuk (Uruan) and Mr. Ekong Sampson (Mkpat Enin) proved abortive as calls to
their telephones did not go through. They did not respond to text messages sent
into their phones.
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