The Speaker of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Barrister Onofiok Luke has said that the leadership and management of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly will continue to synergize towards strengthening the legislative institution in the state.
He said on Wednesday at the opening of a 3-day retreat for the leadership and management staff of the State Assembly that he considered it imperative for the House leadership and parliamentary staff to retool in order to hasten the achievements of the set goals of the 6th Assembly.
In a Press Release signed by his Press Secretary, Mr Kufre Okon, Speaker Onofiok Luke emphasised that it was part of his agenda as Speaker to create a synergy which would bridge any gaps which may have existed between the management, leadership and the parliamentary staff of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly.
He said the retreat will help the Assembly take stock of its achievements and reposition to achieve even more.
“We know that we cannot meet the yearnings and aspirations of our people who gave us the mandate as legislators without having a solid institutional framework to deliver on that mandate. And for us to have such framework, we must have that synergy between us and the parliamentary staff. This will ensure effective output. This retreat is an opportunity for us to retool; it is an opportunity for us to look back at our legislative agenda, assess our output so far, look at the things we’ve been able to achieve, take stock of those that are yet to be achieved and try to see what we can do to achieve them in the remaining one year.”
Iterating the need for a sound workforce in the state legislature, Speaker Luke said the state assembly must be adequately prepared to make well researched laws which will take into consideration trends and policy innovations within the oil and gas sector for instance.
“We cannot be quite prepared if we don’t have a sound support system. The sound support system in this case is the parliamentary staff and the management team of the State Assembly. There is need to have a synergy that will help us leave a legacy.
“We know that the parliamentary staff are the institutional framework that must be developed and carried along in what we are doing so that others who will be coming in after us will not have a hard starting in their legislative business. With a prepared and well equipped parliamentary staff, they will be able to hit the ground running by the time they are sworn-in in June 2019.
The Speaker said the retreat provided the opportunity for the leadership and management of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly to “learn, get new ideas, and to share vision and ideas which will translate to positive outcome for the development of Akwa Ibom State and for the realisation of the Akwa Ibom project which is to create a united, educated, healthy and prosperous state under one leadership and under one God.”
Participants at the retreat were the entire management team of the House led by the Clerk of the Assembly, Mrs Mandu Umoren, and the six members of leadership of the House led by Speaker Onofiok Luke.
The theme of the retreat is ‘Leadership and Policy: Challenges in Public Service.’