ASSEMBLYMEN in the Akwa-Ibom House of Assembly are in the middle of an ugly duel over the sharing of N30M
donated to the body by the state governor, Governor Godswill Akpabio.
The said N30m was allegedly approved for the state lawmakers during the May 29, ‘Democracy Day’ celebration in the state.
The formula for the sharing, according to our inside source was for each member to get N1m, while the leadership of the house gets N4m.
Reports say that the members were upset when the chairman of the Finance and Appropriation Committee of the House, Hon Onofiok Luke shared only N500,000 each to the members, remaining just N3m for the leadership of the house, a calculation which amounted to N16m, as against the agreed N30m.
Observers say the quiet nature of Hon Onofiok may be the only reason why his colleagues have not lynched him over the issue. According to Onofiok, it was the Chairman of the Finance and General Purpose Committee of the State, and Secretary to State Government, Umana Umana who pilfered the money.
The members were quick to believe Hon Onofiok, as it was not the first time the SSG has tempered with funds meant for the House members, but some of them have vowed to get to the root of the matter once and for all.
One of the members who spoke to our reporter, alleged that should the SSG be innocent, it then lay between Onofiok and Speaker Sam Ikon, the secret of the whereabout of the missing cash.
The first term lawmaker who is obviously against the governorship ambition of the Secretary to the State Government noted that, “in fact when the House rresumes in August, we will spark a row that will not end until the remaining N14m is found, and nothing will stand our way.”
“Obong Umana should not shortchange us because of his greed and quest for power, and feel we will always succumb to his caprices”, the aggrieved lawmaker enthused.