The Assembly of Akwa Ibom has passed a measure on financial autonomy

The Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly has approved a measure for a law that will give it the authority to administer money that have been allotted to it from the state’s consolidated revenue pool.

On Thursday, October 12, 2023, when the law was read for the third time, it was finally approved.

Otobong Bob, who is also the Deputy Leader of the House, is the primary sponsor of the bill and explained that it was in fulfillment of constitutional provisions contained in Section 121(3) of the constitution. Section 121(3) states that “any amount standing in credit to the State House of Assembly shall be paid directly into the account of the House of Assembly.” The bill was explained to be in fulfillment of these constitutional provisions by Otobong Bob.

He stated that “There is a need for the state legislature to have financial autonomy in order to enable it to discharge its legislative functions effectively.”

Also speaking in favor of the measure, the Deputy Speaker of the House, KufreAbasi Edidem, and the Chief Whip, Effiong Johnson, described the law as being appropriate and said that their colleagues in Lagos, Delta, Ebonyi, and a few other states were already enjoying financial autonomy. Both of these members of the House voted in favor of the bill.

According to the legislators, the proposed legislation would, among other things, secure the availability of funding for legislative oversight functions, lawmaking, training, and retraining of assembly employees, which would include personal and legislative assistants of the legislators, among other positions.

The measure was approved by the Speaker of the Assembly, Udeme Otong, who also presided over the plenary session. The Speaker of the Assembly then gave the directive for the bill to be submitted to Governor Umo Eno for his consent to the clerk of the House, Mrs. NsikakAbasi Orok.