Civil Liberty Organization (CLO), Akwa Ibom State chapter, has reprimanded the Akwa Ibom House of Assembly for “misrepresentation”, and for failing to override the state governor, Udom Emmanuel, in bills that he refuses to agree to.
“This is where the 7th Assembly failed,” said Franklyn Isong, president of the CLO, at the year-end meeting of the Consolidated Chapel of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Akwa Ibom State Council, on December 22.
“She (the 7th Assembly) has consistently failed to fulfill her constitutional duty and has turned a blind eye to various bills passed and presented to the governor but ignored by the governor,” said Isong.
The CLO President expressed disappointment that Assembly members lacked “political will” to “invoke Section 100 (5) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) – ‘the Assembly can annul the assent of the governor and approve the bill, with a majority of two thirds of the members of the Assembly ».
Isong said the Assembly is “an asset to the state executive council and a liability to society.”
‘Governor Emmanuel only signs appropriation bills’
In an interview with PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday, Isong said that “the governor only signed the budgets (appropriations bills), that’s all he has done.”
He mentioned some of the bills passed by the Assembly but denied the consent of Governor Emmanuel such as the Neighborhood Security Corps bill, the Junk Dealers bill, the Youth Development Fund bill of Akwa Ibom and Akwa Ibom State College of Science and Technology bill.
Mr. Isong, who regretted that all the bills were extinguished despite the money spent during the public hearing, urged the Assembly to resubmit the bills.
Once a bill is approved by the House of Assembly and sent for assent, if the governor denies assent for 30 days and the Assembly does not override the governor’s veto, the bill is dead.
“What the House of Assembly should do is re-represent the bills again. All the money that they have spent on public hearings and other funds has become a waste, ”said Isong.
‘Constituency offices occupied by reptiles’
Isong, who said that state legislators’ constituency offices have been occupied by reptiles due to overgrown undergrowth and no one to man the offices, wondered how legislators could offer effective representation without interacting with their voters.
He accused lawmakers of failing to engage their constituents in interactive sessions to seek their input on bills, adding that lawmakers live in the state capital, Uyo, and only visit their homes only for ceremonies.
“There is no assembly member without electoral districts but unfortunately what you get in Akwa Ibom, particularly in the 7th Assembly, is that there are assembly members without electoral districts.
“Members of the Seventh Assembly continue without regular briefings or interactive sessions. They sit in Uyo and only return to their constituencies to attend funerals, child dedications, traditional marriages and naming ceremonies. “
House spokesman Aniefiok Dennis did not respond to calls and texts seeking comment from him.
However, State Information Commissioner Ini Ememobong dismissed Mr. Isong’s allegations as incorrect.
Mr. Ememobong said that although the governor has the discretion to give or deny assent to bills, he (the governor) has also accepted the Law Against Open Grazing and the Law on Violence Against People.