Two time senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator Effiong Bob, has advocated for continuous nurturing of harmony between the executive and legislative arms of government in Akwa Ibom State.
This he said was to aid rapid development of the state.
Bob spoke at the weekend during a public lecture entitled “The role of the legislature in the development of Akwa Ibom State in the past 25years.”
The public lecture was part of activities to mark the 25th anniversary of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly.
“When it concerns the development of the state in fulfillment of the collective mandate of Akwa Ibom people, ethnic interest, political rivalry god-fatherism and any form of grand-standing must be laid aside.
“We must not forget where we are coming from, the struggles of our forebears and expectations of the people,” Bob advised.
He warned that the legislature and the executive should not hide under the concept of Separation of Power to obstruct development of the state.
The senator said that the refusal by members of the executive arms of government to honour parliamentary summons should be discouraged, stressing that it undermined the integrity of the legislature.
Bob recommended that financial autonomy be granted the state House of Assembly, adding that the legislature should not go cap-in-hand to seek financial help from the executive.
He said, “When the legislature is deliberately starved of funds, then its activities would be stagnated.
“When this happens, every aspect of its activities towards the development of the state will suffer.”
He opined that for excellent development of the state, the legislature must exercise its right to check abuse of power, mismanagement of funds and waste of state resources.
He said that the legislature must cooperate with the executive only to the extent of ensuring smooth operation of government, without turning itself into rubber stamp legislature.
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Senator Bob, lauded the feat the House of Assembly has achieved at 25 and urged the members to continue to close ranks for the development of the state.
Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, he said, had passed 184 bills into law since it was inaugurated on January 20, 1992.
He stated that the first assembly with 48 members were able to introduce 28 bills out of which 11 were passed into law before the tenure of the assembly was truncated by military rule in 1993.
According to him, the first assembly had to veto two of the bills when the governor refused his assent.
He said the second assembly which started in 1999 with 26 members were able to pass 45 bills and considered 110 resolutions.
The lawmaker said the third assembly passed 26 bills and considered 65 resolutions while the fourth assembly was able to pass 31 bills and considered 41 resolutions.
“The fifth Assembly which lasted from 2011 to 2015 passed 39 bills. The current assembly which is the sixth has passed 15 bills and made 100 resolutions,” Bob said.
The senator who noted each of the bills had impacted positively on the development of the state, however said not all the bills passed had been assented to by governor.
