A Human Rights Activist in the State, Mr. Saviour Akpan, has called for immediate arrest and commitment to jail, all members of Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly (AKHA) for allegedly plagiarizing Lagos State Traffic Management Law.
Akpan, who made the call in his office while speaking during an exclusive interview with our correspondent, alleged that the lawmakers went to Lagos State and copied their road traffic management law and presented it as Akwa Ibom State Traffic Management Bill.
The Rights Activist who is the State Executive Director of Community Policing Partners for Justice, Security and Democratic Reforms, noted that the action of the lawmakers is purely plagiarism. This, he said, is a criminal act and those that committed it should be “sent to jail”.
His words, “Like the Akwa Ibom State Traffic Management Bill, I remember clearly that this organization (COMPPART) made a call that the executive should not sign the bill. Till tomorrow, all members of the Assembly should be jailed because they committed a criminal offence by plagiarizing on the Lagos State Traffic Management Law. You don’t just go and copy someone’s work. Plagiarism is a crime. So, all of them should report themselves at Ikot Akpan Abia, make statements and even if it is one minute jail, they should go”.
He recalled that a section of the Akwa Ibom State Traffic Management Bill still has a paragraph that read LASTMA which he said is for Lagos State.
He said, “ I keep referring to the Akwa Ibom State Traffic Management Bill, you find out that even when they passed the bill and sent it to the executive, there was still a paragraph that read LASTMA.
LASTMA is for Lagos State. So, what do we have to do with LASTMA?”
Akpan also chided the free and compulsory education policy of the state government, noting that the policy has no legal backing. He therefore called on the legislature to come up with a bill that will give legal backing to the policy.
The COMPPART Director also noted that there is a disconnect between the State House of Assembly and whom people the law is made for, saying that many of the lawmakers engage in making obnoxious laws as if they will live forever in the House.
“There is also a disconnection between the House of Assembly and the people the laws are made for. One thing they forget is that when they sit at that chambers, they feel that they will remain there. So, they make those obnoxious laws forgetting that they will come back and live like ordinary citizens and it is only when they come back they say that they wish they were in the House of Assembly. That is absolutely and should not be condoned”, he said.
Alleged Plagiarism: Members of Akwa Ibom State Assembly Face Arrest
