The Anchor Express (2025)

02/06/2025

Get the latest information on what is happening in Akwa Ibom State.

20/05/2025

CHAIRMEN OF FRAUD

* Ikono, Udung Uko in financial misappropriation

* As Councillors battle chairmen over N1.6 billion allocation

Wave of financial misconduct and misappropriation is sweeping across Local Government Areas in Akwa Ibom State following the growing financial alarm, discontent and disagreement between Chairmen and Councillors in the state.

At the center of the storm are two local government chairmen being that of Ikono local government council, Engr Otobong Essien and his Udung Uko counterpart, Elder Godwin Okponung as councilors battle the whereabout of over N1.6 billion local government allocation.

The Councillors in Ikono and Udung Uko are demanding their respective council chairmen to furnish the legislative house with the income and expenditure of the local government from October 2024 to April 2025 making it eight months.

The lawmakers are alleging that the chairmen spend council allocation without a budget to support their expenditure.

In Ikono local government, the Councillors have already dragged the council chairman, Engr. Otobong Essien to the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly calling for the chairman’s impeachment.

Confirming the councillor’s petition before the state assembly, the chairman house of assembly committee of judiciary, human rights and public petition, Prince Aniefiok Attah said his committee received a petition from the Councillors in Ikono local government on the chairman’s gross misconduct, and has accordingly presented the petition on the floor of the house which was committed to the house committee on local government and chieftaincy affairs chaired by Hon Mfon Idung for investigation.

The petition as presented by Prince Attah on the floor of the Assembly during Tuesday's plenary was received through a motion by Hon. Kenim Onofiok, representing Oron/Udung Uko state constituency, and seconded by Hon. Selina Ukpatu of Ikot Abasi/Eastern Obolo state constituency.

The petition, signed by Hon. Saviour Ebong, Leader of the 8th Ikono Legislative Council, Deputy Leader Hon. Idorenyin Akpan, and ten other councillors, accused the Council Chairman of unlawfully withdrawing public funds from the local government council's account without the necessary authorisation from the Legislative Council.

The councillors described the chairman’s action as dishonorable, illegal, and a blatant abuse of power.

The Councillors alleged that the Chairman misappropriated council funds in violation of Section 66(1) of the Local Government Administration Law of the State, failed to attend legislative sessions, and employed security personnel to disrupt the official activities of the legislators.

They stated, "The overall conduct of the Chairman reflects her unwillingness and unpreparedness to govern as the Executive Chairman of Ikono Local Government Council in accordance with the law," emphasising that her careless attitude and misconduct must be addressed immediately”.

In his ruling, Speaker Rt. Hon. (Elder) Udeme Otong, referred the petition to the House Committee on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, and directed the Committee to engage with the Council Chairman, Head of Service, Leader of the Legislative Arm, and other relevant stakeholders in the local government. All attempts to have the chairman’s perspective on the allegations against her proved abortive as she declined claiming its only the governor she’s accountable to.

In Idung Uko local government, the chairman is accused of corrupt practices of spending council funds without a budget. The Councillors alleged that since the chairman presented the budget to the legislature last year, he has refused to equip the house to enable the passage of the budget hence spending without appropriation.

The Councillors have passed a vote of no confidence on the leader of the legislature in Udung Uko, Hon Victor Okon Inue-Onwi whom they accused of colluding with the council chairman to perpetrate corruption in the local government.

In their vote of no confidence letter passed on its leader, Hon. Victor Okon Inue-Onwi, the councillors accused the leader of colluding with Chairman Hon. Godwin Okponung to sideline councilors and mismanage local governance.

Although the real target of public anger is Chairman Okponung, whose eight months tenure is increasingly being described as the most ineffective and disconnected in the council’s recent history despite his administration receiving over ₦170 million monthly in federal allocation.

During a heated plenary session last Monday, Hon. Emmanuel Duncan of Ward 3 moved a motion citing gross incompetence and betrayal by the legislative leader. He accused Inue-Onwi of failing to defend councilors’ rights and welfare, while collaborating with the executive chairman to suppress legislative input.
The motion was seconded by Hon. Blessing Eyite of Ward 1, which quickly gained traction among lawmakers who lamented what they described as systemic neglect and hostile treatment by Chairman Okponung’s administration.

“We have been left in the cold while the chairman runs a one-man show. We get nothing, not even basic entitlements while millions roll into council account every month,” said one visibly frustrated councilor who requested anonymity.

Analysis of federal allocation data shows that Udung Uko has received over ₦1 billion in eight months, an average of #170 million per month since Okponung assumed office. Yet, not a single project has been inaugurated under his watch, sparking outrage among constituents and stakeholders. Efforts to reach the council chairman was unsuccessful as he couldn’t be reach reaction.

03/05/2025

N80B OF $3B IN KYARI’S ACCOUNT

* P’Harcourt, Warri, Kaduna refineries’ MDs arrested

* Kyari, 13 senior ex-NNPCL officials face probe

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arrested the recently sacked managing directors and some top officials of the Port Harcourt Refining Company, Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company, and Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company.

The officials were arrested over alleged mismanagement of funds earmarked for the rehabilitation of the facilities. The total amount under investigation is $2,956,872,622.36.

Findings showed that the EFCC is probing the sum of $1,559,239,084.36 allocated to the Port Harcourt refinery, $740,669,600 released for the Kaduna refinery, and $656,963,938 approved for the Warri refinery.

The ex-Managing Director of Port Harcourt Refining Company Ltd is Mr Ibrahim Onoja, while Efifia Chu served as the ex-Managing Director of the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company Ltd.

This came as impeccable top management sources at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited revealed that N80bn was found in the account of one of the sacked MDs.

Also, operators and experts in the sector lambasted NNPCL for deceiving Nigerians regarding the operations of the refineries, particularly the Port Harcourt and Warri plants, following the poor output from the facilities since their resumption of operations in November and December 2024.

23/04/2025

In 2015, the South teamed up with the North and removed a Southern President. Today they are talk about South; who is more south than the other

11/04/2025

THE QUIET HERO OF A’IBOM’S MATERNAL HEALTH

By Joseph Okon

UYO, Nigeria In a modest general hospital tucked away in the heart of Uyo, Akwa Ibom’s bustling capital, Mrs. Edidiong Bassey sits at the edge of a hospital bed, gently holding the hand of a first-time mother. She offers encouragement, calm amid the storm of contractions, and the same warm reassurance she has given to hundreds of women before.
“My job is more than catching babies,” she says with a soft laugh. “It’s about being there when a woman feels her most vulnerable and helping her feel empowered.”
Mrs. Bassey, 38, is a certified midwife and passionate maternal health advocate. For over a decade, she has worked across rural and urban communities in Akwa Ibom State, witnessing firsthand the challenges that women face during pregnancy and childbirth.
Her mission is simple but urgent: to reduce maternal and infant mortality, one safe delivery at a time.
Growing up in the riverine community of Nsit Ubium, Mrs. Bassey watched her mother, a traditional birth attendant, guide women through labor with little more than herbal remedies and instinct. But not all stories ended well. She recalls a childhood memory that shaped her career path: the death of a neighbor during childbirth.
“She bled out,” Bassey says, her voice trailing. “There was no clinic, no trained nurse just my mother and a prayer.”
That experience lit a fire in her. After completing secondary school, Bassey pursued nursing and later specialized in midwifery at the School of Midwifery, Ituk Mbang. Today, she leads community outreach initiatives under the umbrella of the Safe Birth Initiative, a local program in collaboration with the Akwa Ibom State Ministry of Health.
According to a 2023 report by Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Health, the country accounts for 20 percent of global maternal deaths, with a maternal mortality ratio of 512 deaths per 100,000 live births. In Akwa Ibom, where health infrastructure varies drastically between urban and rural areas, maternal health remains a critical concern.
“In some parts of the state, women still give birth on the floor of their homes,” Bassey says. “They don’t trust the health system, or they simply can’t reach it.”
Dr. Margaret Udo, a public health specialist at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, supports this claim. “The distance from primary healthcare centers to some villages can be several kilometers,” she explains. “And then there’s the issue of staff shortages midwives like Edidiong are the heartbeat of this system.”
Though her resume boasts awards and recognition, Bassey prefers to talk about her patients. She recalls Grace, a 19-year-old who arrived at her clinic after prolonged labor in a village. Grace’s baby was in distress, and Bassey had to act fast.
“I stayed with her all night. The baby wasn’t breathing at first,” she says. “But when he cried just a little whimper I cried too.”
That baby survived because of Bassey’s experience and intuition. Stories like this aren’t rare in her line of work. Yet, she remains humble, insisting that the real strength lies in the mothers.
“The truth is, these women are fighters,” she says. “I just walk beside them.”
Her day begins at 6 a.m., often not ending until after midnight. From prenatal counseling to delivery and postpartum care, she follows her patients through every phase. When she’s not in the clinic, she’s traveling to rural areas to teach women about prenatal hygiene, nutrition, and birth preparedness.
Beyond the delivery room, Bassey is a vocal advocate for maternal health reform in Akwa Ibom. She has collaborated with NGOs like Women’s Health Alliance Nigeria and recently helped develop a state-wide awareness campaign called “Mama Safe,” focused on training traditional birth attendants in safe birthing practices.
“Some of them feel threatened by modern medicine,” she explains. “But when we engage them respectfully, they open up. We show them how to identify danger signs, when to refer cases, and how to clean their tools. It’s not about taking over it’s about saving lives.”
Her approach has won her trust in places where hospitals once felt foreign. Chief Inyang Okon, the village head of Ikot Abasi, confirms this shift. “Madam Edidiong brings knowledge without pride,” he says. “Our women listen to her.”
Bassey admits the work is exhausting. She sometimes dreams of a better-equipped facility or a team big enough to handle the demand. But quitting? Never an option.
“Every time a healthy baby cries in my arms, I’m reminded that this is sacred work,” she says.
Her impact continues to ripple. Former patients return with gratitude and babies now old enough to walk. One, Blessing Aniedi, named her daughter after Bassey.
“She was my angel,” Blessing says. “I was alone, scared, and bleeding. If not for her, I wouldn’t be here today.”
As Nigeria works to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal of reducing maternal mortality by 2030, practitioners like Bassey are the frontline soldiers. She’s optimistic but realistic.
“We need more investment, more midwives, and stronger policies,” she says. “But even if I’m the only one in a village, I’ll be there with my gloves, my torchlight, and my faith.”
Mrs. Edidiong Bassey’s story is more than one of personal devotion it’s a lens into the quiet, often invisible, labor of midwives who keep communities alive. In Akwa Ibom, where statistics sometimes overshadow stories, her voice is a reminder that change is possible when compassion meets courage.
As she walks through the clinic hallway, another mother in labor cries out. Bassey straightens her coat, smiles, and heads toward the sound.
“One more life,” she says. “Let’s bring them safely home.”

07/03/2025

HOW AKPABIO PLOTTED FAKE EFCC ARREST BLACKMAIL AGAINST EX - GOV. EMMANUEL

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) alerts of plots by the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio to smear the immediate past governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Udom Emmanuel in a desperate but failed attempt to discredit the PDP.

Our Party has already been made aware of a well-oiled scheme reportedly engineered by the Senate President to compromise a section of the media to engage in smear campaign through circulation of falsehood, misrepresentations and unsubstantiated allegations of corruption against Udom Emmanuel.

The latest being the attempt to portray Udom Emmanuel as being indicted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) while bandying spurious and fictitious figures to mislead the unsuspecting public.

Senator Akpabio should know that such an unholy enterprise cannot succeed as Nigerians have already seen through his machinations against the former governor, Udom Emmanuel.

Moreover, it is on record that Udom Emmanuel served meritoriously as Governor of Akwa Ibom State and left an impeccable record of transparent, prudent and service-driven management of resources with exceptional legacy of massive infrastructural, citizen empowerment and human capital development projects in all critical productive and service sectors including aviation, manufacturing, education, hospitality, healthcare, power, housing among others which further positioned Akwa Ibom State as a model of good governance in our country.

Our Party counsels Senator Akpabio to leave Udom Emmanuel alone and focus on the many challenges facing him in the National Assembly.

Signed:

Hon. Debo Ologunagba
National Publicity Secretary

18/02/2025

PANDEF Leader, Edwin Clark Dies At 97

12/02/2025

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Meanwhile, Congratulations to all the Hon. Commissioners designate for making Governor Umo Eno’s first 11 list. May your stay in office be eventful and beneficial to Akwa Ibom people.

17/01/2025

For Accurate and Reliable Information. Read Anchor Express

15/01/2025

TANGIBLE IMPACTS IN ETIM EKPO

Gideon Uwa, the chairman of Etim Ekpo local government is one of the council chairmen in Akwa Ibom State that is showing tangible impact within 100 days in office.

He has completely aligned his vision with the Arise agenda of the state governor, Pastor Umo Eno at the grassroots level.

Since his assumption of office on October 7, 2024, Mr Uwa has shown that indeed, he was truly in a hurry to bring development to his people.

Emulating the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno, who is aggressively attracting development to the rural communities of Etim Ekpo with life torching and people oriented projects such as the Model Health Centre, in Utu Ikot Nkor, the Ikot Obioma-Inen Ikot Okpo-Utu Ikot Nkor road, the Utu Nsehe-Utu Ikot Eboro road and the 16.5KM Midim Atan Ikot Inyang-Ikot Akpan Ekpenyong-Etok Uruk Eshiet-Ikot Imonte road projects, Mr Gideon Uwa on his part as the Chairman is also following the Governor's developmental footsteps by showing that creating a conducive working environment for workers is not rocket science and that the aesthetics and ambience of a work environment like the Council Secretariat can be remodelled, upgraded and rehabilitated to provide comfort, improve efficiency and effectiveness as well as enhance workers productivity.

Immediately after taking oath of office, he went to work with speed, and in just 100 days, the Etim Ekpo Council Secretariat is wearing a new look with the construction of a 1.1KM Interval Road/Pedestrian Walkway, remodeling and Painting of the Secretariat fence, construction of a new modernized gate house and main gate, construction of gutters, provision of Solar Street Lights, construction of Side Drainage System, Elevated Parking Lot, Rehabilitation of Legislative Quarters, and Overhaul and Modernisation of the Chairman's Office from what it was to a smart, digitally compliance and aesthetically appealing office.

In just 100 days in office, even his worst critics will agree that the election of Gideon Uwa as Chairman is one of the best thing to happen and that his competence, capacity, and zeal to deliver on his campaign promises to his people were not mere political rhetoric.

Call him a man of taste, style and quality and you will not be wrong. Today, Etim Ekpo Council Secretariat is a huge project site in just 100 days and Gideon Uwa has shown clearly that Etim Ekpo people never made a mistake for insisting on vibrancy, foresightedness, popularity, and other charismatic qualities as yardstick to elect their Chairman which he had in abundance.

Today, many indigenes of Etim Ekpo LGA both at home and in the diaspora see in Gideon Uwa, a leader who can rise profoundly above the challenges of the present era through exemplary actions and attitudes, one having the capacity to translate intention into reality and sustain it.

With a pace that is unprecedented, Gideon Uwa in just 100 days seems poised to ensure that as far as Etim Ekpo LGA is concerned, inefficiency in Local Government administration is incapacitated, underdevelopment diminished, crisis of expectation perpetually eradicated through a systematic, conscious and meticulous administrative style that places premium on the yearnings and aspirations of the people above personal comfort or self aggrandisement.

There is no doubt that with his superlative performance and good start, Etim Ekpo LGA is blessed to have a Chairman who like the Governor believes that the greatest satisfaction of a leader is in the happiness, joy and fulfillment of his people. This is what the Mr Gideon Uwa represents, a feat that is both commendable and worthy of emulation.

01/01/2025

BEING THE TEXT OF THE NEW YEAR BROADCAST BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PASTOR UMO ENO, PhD, GOVERNOR, AKWA IBOM STATE, GOVERNMENT HOUSE, UYO-JANUARY 1, 2025

My dear Akwaibomites

1. Let me start by wishing us all a Happy and prosperous New Year! We give thanks to God for seeing us through the preceding year. Even though the general economic horizon was hazy and challenging, we have experienced a great lifting up, which reassures us that we are a State that is soaring on the wings of His grace, Arising to His glory and achieving success because of His endless love. We give Him thanks and adoration for the more blessings that await us in this New Year

2. Fellow Akwaibomites, in nineteen months since you gave me the mandate to be your Governor, and in line with our Governance and Economic Blueprint, the Arise Agenda, we have worked twice as hard to translate the vision into measurable and impactful levels. Let me thank you for all your support and prayers, and I am hopeful that we can count on you for more of your support in the New Year.

3. We came with an agenda to engender an agricultural revolution, aimed at ensuring food security for our people. On that, I make bold to say that we are right on course. Let me thank you again for heeding our clarion call to return to the farm. From what I have seen and heard, we are very hopeful that in the course of this year, we will experience a bountiful harvest.

4. The work-free Farm days, observed every first and third Friday of the month, are proving effective. The recently announced Arise Home Farms Scheme where fifty individuals who upload a two-minute video of what they have grown around their homes, stand a chance to receive a grant of 500 Thousand Naira also has been warmly embraced by our people. God has blessed us with favourable weather all year-round, fertile soil. We therefore, have no excuse not to produce enough staple food to feed our population, store surplus, and even export to other parts of the country.

5. The Ibom Model Farm, project is ongoing, the farm signposts our determined efforts to combine food sufficiency and tourism and in the process revolutionize our agricultural practices.

6. We remain dedicated to opening up our rural areas with economically viable roads, potable water, model primary healthcare facilities, all aimed at stemming the rural–urban migration. there is no local government area where there is no ongoing project based on our “One Project Per Local Government” and the second phase of the project has commenced in some Local Government Areas.

7. Our commitment to expanding and maintaining infrastructure has been upheld. Within 19 months of assuming office, we have undertaken 157 road projects across the 31 Local Government Areas. This includes roads inherited from the previous administrations, many of which have been completed and commissioned. Additionally, we launched a zero-polthole campaign, transforming our state into a thriving construction hub.

8. Let me use this opportunity to commend our project handlers and contractors for responding to our call to return to their respective sites and take advantage of the dry season to complete the awarded road projects. Based on the monitoring reports I have received, I am highly impressed by the passion and commitment they have demonstrated.

9. Our State still remains an oasis of peace and tranquility. Many thanks to the robust collaborations with our security agencies, Let me also appreciate our youths for believing in our leadership and for shunning anti-peace tendencies. That is why we have created a stand-alone Ministry of Youth Development, separate from Sports to work with our youths to ensure that the future they aspire is made possible by tangible and concrete programmes we have initiated for them today. I trust and know they will continue to work with us to make that happen.

10. We will continue to commission more model primary schools across the State this year, support our secondary and public tertiary institutions with subventions, pay WAEC fees and other fees for our students, provide uniforms, shoes, and books for our pupils, hire more teachers and conduct regular training to bring them up to speed with modern teaching techniques, continue to pay bursaries to students in public tertiary institutions and prepare our children to be as competitive as their peers elsewhere.

11. The health and well-being of our people will continue to be our priority even as we will pay greater attention to healthcare delivery. In the New Year, we will continue to commission more model primary healthcare facilities across the state, in addition to those already commissioned. We will enroll more people into our Arise Care Medical Insurance Scheme in addition to almost 10 thousand public service employees and some senior citizens who already have been enrolled. Ibom Specialist Hospital will be reorganized to enable it fulfill the mission of its founding. It is going to be run as a stand-alone medical facility in the model of Ibom Air. We hope to flag-off the construction of the Medical Village along the medical tourism corridor between the Ibom Specialist Hospital and the Raffia City of Ikot Ekpene. We will formally launch the State Ambulance Services to complement the Insurance Scheme.

12. In the New Year, in line with our avowed commitment to improve our power sector, we will reinvigorate our power system and also hold a Power Summit which will produce a step-by-step Roadmap on Power for the State. Let me thank the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Rt. Honourable Udeme Otong and indeed the entire members of the House for the swift passage of the State Electricity Bill into law.

With this development, Akwa Ibom State working with other key stakeholders in the power sector can generate, distribute, transmit and conduct sales of electricity within the state. We are determined to turn around the fortunes of Ibom Power Plant, The forensic audit earlier instituted is expected to submit its reports and we will study and implement some of the recommendations germane to our strategic plans.

13. In our drive to make our state the tourism hub in the nation, we will hold a Tourism Summit and produce a Road map for the sector. Tourism is a critical pillar of the Arise Agenda. The Arise Park, which we hope to commission in the new year, is a testament to the vision and creativity. From a den of miscreants and a gulley erosion-ravaged ravine, we have turned the place into what we hope may be about the best family-themed Park in the nation, complete with children playground, a 9-hole golf course, artificial lakes, accommodation and banquet facilities and other amenities that can compare to any such park the world over. We will also, work to promote our historic tourist sites scattered all over the state. We look forward to receiving from the Nigerian Navy two passenger ferries for our inter-state water travels between Akwa Ibom and Cross River State. We will play big in the tourism industry.

14. In the New year, we plan to flag-off the construction of Ibom Hotels in Abuja in addition to the construction of Ibom Towers in Lagos. These are previously moribund State assets that we are converting into money making ventures. We will continue to think out of the box in our drive to increase our Internally Generated Revenues (IGR.) The AkwaGIS which we also hope to launch in the first quarter of this year will help in this regard.

15. Small and Medium Scale Enterprises the world over are the engines of growth of any economy-it is meant to create a thriving middle class and we will devote our resources in the new year to promote this critical area of development. At our last EXCO meeting for 2024, we approved a committee to work out adequate modalities to release funds to traders/farmers and artisans in the State.

Already, we have trained over two thousand of our youths through the Entrepreneurial Accelerator Programme run by Ibom LED, of which each participant was given 500 thousand Naira seed grant, including the Female Youths that would be given 750 thousand Naira each. The training of over 200 youths at the Dakkada Skills Acquisition centre, DASAC is ongoing and I am happy to hear of the impact the training is providing to the participants and the products they are producing at the centre. That is the can-do spirit of Akwa Ibom people at work and this is deeply encouraging.

16. We will continue to work with the Bank of Industry (BoI) to provide loans at single digits to our traders. We have committed two billion Naira as matching funds for this purpose. We have also converted the earlier two billion Naira loan given to our traders to grants same as the 200 million Naira each, to the traders from Arewa. Yoruba, Igbo and Niger Delta communities doing business in our state.

17. Ibom Air has continued to fly our flag of excellence within the Nigerian aviation space and we will keep our obligations and support to the airline. In the last nineteen months, we have received two Airbus and purchased outright, two brand new CRJ 900 Bombardier Aircraft which has brought the fleet of the airline to 9. We hope to receive more aircraft in the course of the year as the airline gets set to expand its operations and routes into other parts of Africa.

18. Still within the aviation sector, we hope to commence operations at the Maintenance and Repair and Overhaul(MRO) facility this year as well as the International Terminal at the Victor Attah International airport. Last year, we flagged-off the construction of the Aviation Village a one-stop estate that will provide accommodation, school, clinics and other recreational amenities for the airport workers as part of our total investment in the aviation ecosystem. The Taxiway way, perimeter fencing and other projects around the airport will be completed.

19. We will continue our strategic engagements with our partners towards the realization of the Ibom Deep Seaport. Seaport development is a long term investment and I urge our people to exercise patience as we work through the layers of processes to make this happen. We will expedite work on the Oron Jetty, complete with cold room facilities in our efforts to support our fishermen and our blue economy in general.

20. The 2025 Appropriation Law, titled Budget of Consolidation and Expansion, which was recently passed by the State House of Assembly and signed into law by me two days ago, offers significant opportunities for us as a State. As part of our plans, we will organize a Business Summit during the year, inviting our accomplished sons and daughters from across the nation and in the Diaspora. These individuals, who have excelled in their respective professions, will explore areas within the budget where they can collaborate with us. We will also celebrate their achievements, inspiring others to emulate their hard work and determination.

22. We will continue to support our elders, and the vulnerable with social safety net services. The first of the 15 thousand out of 60 thousand youths to be empowered with Arise youths business support scheme I had announced during my youth appreciation rally last September have been paid. We hope to continue with this process in the new year alongside other Business support schemes I had also rolled out during the rally.

23. We will continue to pay down the backlog of gratuities. So far, we have paid nearly N42 billion out of about 93 billion we had inherited from previous administrations dating back to 2012. As soon as the verification exercise currently ongoing is completed, we will commence the payment of the 80 thousand Naira minimum wage we had announced, with effect from 1st November, 2024. I must commend the cooperation we have received from the Organized Labour and I am hopeful of a more robust relationship in the new year.

24. We will continue to build more Arise Compassionate Homes. Currently over 112 have been built and handed over to the beneficiaries while work is ongoing on additional 62 units. Our target is to deliver 400 homes, at least one in all of the 368 wards in our State by the end of our first term in office. I call on others, especially those whom God has blessed –contractors and business organizations doing business in our state to support government efforts in this regard as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility for 2025.

25. We will continue the payment of 50 Thousand Naira monthly to 600 Elders drawn from all the 368 wards in the state in our Arise Elders Care Initiative, our Arise Free Food Voucher programme administered by the Bulk Purchase Agency as a temporary intervention scheme will continue while we expect bountiful harvest in the new year. Let me thank the Agency and all the Loval Government Chairmen, for the orderly manner food were distributed without any casualty. We shall commence the construction of the Arise Elderly Citizens’ Home, which shall comprise recreational and health facilities to cater for the welfare of senior citizens.

26. As we usher in the New Year, I enjoin us to remain united and shun politics of division and personal destruction. We are committed to running an inclusive government, and we have demonstrated this approach in the last eighteen months since we came in. Politics should not divide us or severe our bonds of kindredship, we are first and foremost Akwaibomites before we became members of any political parties. Let us continue to hold aloft our defined identity as a peaceful, prosperous and forward-looking people. I will continue to run the State and involve and consult our leaders across party lines because if we succeed, Akwa Ibom succeeds and succeed, we will!

27. Tomorrow, January 2, 2025, we will hold our Solemn Assembly where we will once again, thank God for his grace and over the affairs of this great State into the Hands of God. I invite you to join us at the International Christian Worship Centre and let us pray and sing praises to the Lord for another great and successful year of deep accomplishments we hope to have.

28. May God bless our dear State and shine His light upon us in the New Year, in Jesus Name.

May God bless Nigeria and continue to guide our President and members of his cabinet aright in the decisions they shall take and partner them to ensure that we provide the right leadership for our for our people

29. Happy New Year once again to Akwa Ibom!
Happy New Year to Nigerians!

God bless you all.

The Anchor Express

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