Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno has advised those appointed to non-statutory Boards in the state during the immediate past administration to exit from the office and handover to most senior civil servants in those offices.
Vanguard reported that according to a statement on Sunday by the Government House press unit, Eno spoke on Saturday, while addressing worshippers at the July Edition of the Government House monthly Prayer Summit held at Latter House Chapel,, Uyo.
He frowned at the development where the appointees whose tenure has ended since May 29 has refused to bow out of office even after government publicly announced the dissolution of all non- statutory boards and Commissíons on June, 21, 2023.
He said, “I would also like to remind us that we have dissolved all non statutory Boards. I understand that some people still go to office , write memo and send to me even after we have dissolved the Boards. When your salary don’t come, you will know certainly that we have dissolved the boards.
“You know traditionally, on the 29th of May, when a tenure of an administration ends, you don’t need to be told that your tenure has ended. It is, however, sad that some people are still going to work. You don’t hear us announce the dissolution of State EXCO because it’s not necessary.
“And so that they won’t sue Government for not paying them, that is why we announced that all non -statutory boards be dissolved.
“I am not the type that always like to make some noise and carry everything around me because power is transient. That is why people have a lot of problem exiting power.
“Please handover to the next civil servant , or any next person. Except you are in a statutory board or you are in the Constituted Limited Liability Company, please do well to handover and understand that your time is up. And don’t think that your coming back is mandatory”
Governor Eno also berated some political stakeholders for flouting his directive on nominations by Ward leaders for appointment as his Aides, stressing that such nominations must come from the Ward Leaders.
He explained that the decision to allow Ward leaders handle the nomination was deliberate, noting, “The reason for asking us to bring either a PA, SA or whatever will come out with the right process. It is very intentional to show that we want to relate with the people at the grassroots.
“Please, let us the Elites not destroy that good intention. Let the ward leaders, Chairmen, the Executives and Ward elders sit in their wards and look for someone who worked in that ward, and bring their names for the appointment.
“All the leaders must sign, from the ward chairmen to ward elders. I warned that let no one person insist on choosing or bringing a PA from a ward that is not his own. Please don’t do that no matter how highly placed you are in government”
The governor advised key stakeholders of his party the People’s Democratic Party not to influence the appointment adding, ” It is against the doctrine of our party if we want to be honest. It is our belief that power belongs to the people and let us give it to them.”
Continuing, governor Eno announced that his administration would in the month of August launch a Geographical Information System, that captures all lands and indicate ownership and approval of the Certificates of Occupancy to deserving citizens
He explained that state government conceived the idea of the GIS system before the end of immediate past administration which makes the task a lot easier to do.
“A lot of people have been talking to me about the Certificate of Occupancy. And I need to explain that even when His Excellency Deacon Udom Emmanuel delegated the authority that I sign C of O as a Commissioner for Lands, it was impossible to finish signing.
“Some days you just to discover that your signature has become undulated, because in each file you picked, there are about four or five of them. So you can imagine how difficult it is. But there is a good news on the way. We hope and trust God that we should be launching that sometime in August.
“We have worked very hard to ensure that you verify your land directly from your phones, provided you pay the fund, not a lot of money though but it will be able to make it easier for us. When I launch the system, we will be able to sign as many of such documents as we possibly can,” Eno stated.
