 |
| Hon Aniekan Bassey |
The Deputy Leader of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Hon. Aniekan Bassey, has refuted reports linking him to an alleged plot by five members of the Assembly to impeach the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Onofiok Luke.
The speculation which has been trending in the media space has it that Hon. Mark Esset of Nsit Atai State Constituency is warming up for the Speakership position as the likes of the former Speaker, Rt. Hon. Aniekan Uko of Ibesikpo Asutan State Constituency, Hon. Nse Essien of Onna State Constituency, Hon. Aniekan Bassey of Uruan and Hon. Monday Eyo of Uyo State Constituency, have surreptitiously launched an #OnofiokMustGo campaign in the Assembly.
The reports allege that the mentioned lawmakers are incensed by the Speaker’s alleged financial impropriety and marginalization of legislators from the Uyo Federal Constituency bloc.
Speaking with this reporter, Hon. Bassey, who represents Uruan State Constituency, said such allegation is a fabricated report which should be rejected by Akwa Ibom people and declared that it will not distract him from representing his constituents well.
He described the Assembly as a united family, adding that he is unaware of any plan by anyone to impeach the Speaker.
“We are twenty six lawmakers in the House. How can five members impeach a Speaker? The constitution states that no less than two-thirds majority of members can impeach the Speaker.
“Besides that, the Speaker has not committed any impeachable offense. The constitution has spelt out conditions which a Speaker stands the risk of being impeached, so far Mr. Speaker has done well to avoid flouting the laws. He is leading us to the best of his abilities, and it behooves on us to support him to perform his role creditably. No leader is all-knowing, that is why we are there to give him support. There is no cause for alarm.”
Hon. Bassey called on Akwa Ibom people to appreciate the progress made by the sixth Assembly in performing the constitutionally assigned roles of lawmaking, representation and oversight.
While promising not to be distracted by any fallacy, he highlighted that as the mandate carrier of his constituency, the welfare of his constituents remains paramount on his agenda, reason why he is sparing no resources in impacting positively on them.
He mentioned the various empowerment projects masterminded by him to include training more than 600 youths in Jamb CBT and computer studies, organizing tuition-free JAMB classes,partnering with the National Directorate of Employment to train more than 60 Uruan persons in phone repairs, hair dressing, fashion design, beads and hat making, computer studies and paint manufacturing, sponsorship of two youths from Uruan to further football carrer in Turkey, donation of grants to fifty Uruan women as start-up capital for businesses,
Continuing, he highlighted that over 5000 uruan people have benefitted from the free medical programme sponsored by him.
He said that he will maintain his position as one of the vibrant voices in the state parliament by sponsoring more bills, motions and offering germane contributions to discourse during plenary.
Hon. Bassey called on Akwa Ibom people not to relent in offering unflinching support to Governor Udom Emmanuel led administration because government is delivering dividends of democracy.
No comments:
Post a Comment