October 31, (THEWILL) – Stakeholders and leaders in Akpabuyo local government area, Cross River State, have approved of the ongoing amendment to the Nigerian Constitution.
The stakeholders made their feelings known during a town hall meeting organised by Ekeng Effiom Edet, the member representing the area in the Cross River State House of Assembly.
The meeting was organised to get the people abreast with the ongoing amendment with the Constitution and harness their views.
Speaking during the meeting, Ekeng Effiom Edet, member representing Akpabuyo state Constituency, said constitutional review is not a one man thing.
He said almost all the items were reviewed and approved, particularly the ones dear to the people of Akpabuyo.
“Constitutional review is not a one man affair, I am representing people and the national assembly has sent 45 bill items to us in the state house of assembly to deliberate upon.
“So I can’t do it alone, I have to also come and give the people so they see what is to be amended”, he said.
Also speaking, Lady Emana Duke Ambrose-Amahwe, the PDP Deputy Governorship flag bearer, described the engagement as robust.
She said the Akpabuyo representative is better informed and stressed that “if we don’t get it right at the local government level, everything else will be in futility.
“It was a robust engagement and all the participants had time hopefully when he gets back to the assembly, he will be in a better position to state the heart of the people he represents concerning these matters.
“Everything hits home, particularly the one that has to do with the autonomy of local government councils and also the recognition of the local government council as a tier of government.
“We need to get it right at the local government level, otherwise everything we do will be an attempt in futility”, she said.
On his part, HRH Etinyin Francis Effiom, Clan Head of Esuk Mba, in Akpabuyo local government, said they have mandated their members to pay special attention to some of the bills, particularly local government autonomy.
Chris Etim Nyong, former auditor general of Cross River State, who chaired the meeting, said the present Constitution is fraught with a lot of accuracies, wrong governance platforms and structures.
He added that a lot of provisions in the constitution are not even operational so we should actually restructure the Constitution to make it work and this is the restructuring we are talking about.
About the Author
THEWILL Correspondent, Aniekan Bassey has over six years experience that spans across several fields in print journalism including development communication, sexual reproductive and health rights issues, crime, climate change, social justice, business and human interest stories.
