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Tag: Akpabio

  • Akpabio: let’s draw near God

    Akpabio: let’s draw near God

    Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State has urged Nigerians to draw closer to God as they start another journey of their sojourn on earth, adding that this is the only way they would succeed and achieve their objective this year.

    He said this in his New Year message.

    Said Akpabio: “As we end 2012, let us count our blessings and thank God for everything. Let us pray for the best in 2013 and draw closer to our creator because this is the only way we can receive his blessings, protection and provision in the New Year as individuals, state and a nation.

    “As a people and state, we have moved from the fringes of national life to the centre of national attention. We have run a good race in terms of infrastructural development, human capacity building, economic growth and educational advancement and health care services.”

    The governor thanked Akwa Ibom indigenes for the lovely sentiments they expressed during his 50th birthday celebration.

    He said: “We set out to change Akwa Ibom State, but it looks like we are changing Nigeria. The tidal wave of development we have unleashed on our state has caught the imagination of the nation. Our state has become the destination of choice for conferences in Nigeria and the Gilgal of our nation.”

  • My people want me as senator in 2015, says Akpabio

    My people want me as senator in 2015, says Akpabio

    Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State yesterday said his people from Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District have asked him to represent them at the Senate in 2015.

    The governor, while speaking during an interview with The Nation on Sunday at the newly constructed Government Office in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, said his people asked him not to retire politically but go ahead to represent them in Abuja.

    The Nation on Sunday had a few months back exclusively reported that the governor was eyeing the Senate.

    When asked what he would be doing after the expiration of his tenure in 2015, Akpabio said: “By the grace of God, I will see myself as a Senator in 2015. My people have approached me and told me not to retire politically. They said I should go and become a Senator and I have accepted their request.”

    While commenting on the state of development in the state, the governor said his government has changed the face of infrastructural development in the state, stressing that he would want anybody that would take over from him to do more for the people.

    The governor traced the source of the country’s problem not to lack of natural resources but how to utilise the resources for the betterment of the citizenry.

    According to the governor, without true federalism, there won’t be real progress. He said there was a need to decentralise the policing system in the country.

    He said: “Without true federalism, there will never be real progress in Nigeria. We must begin to look at how to decentralise the policing system because the current one is not working.

    “We shouldn’t be afraid that a governor will use state police wrongly. Also we should also remove some things on the exclusive and allow state to legislate.”

    Akpabio, who will turn 50 on December 9, said the journey so far has been a mixture of sadness and joy.

    He said: “I owe a lot to my wife. I didn’t see myself as a successful man at 50 because I am still working. My children have also given me support. I thank them for their sacrifice.”

  • Akpabio presents N459.305b Budget

    Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio yesterday presented a proposed N459.305 billion Budget to the House of Assembly for next year.

    The proposed budget is N73.808 billion lower than this year’s N533.113 billion budget.

    The proposal, tagged “Budget of Industralisation and Consolidation”, comprises N118.790 billion for recurrent expenditure and N340.515 billion for capital projects.

    Recurrent revenue is estimated at N370.288.

    Akpabio said N289 billion would be obtained from the Derivation Fund; N38 billion from Statutory Allocation; N27.035 billion from Internally Generated Revenue (IGR); N13 billion from Value Added Tax (VAT) and N3.254 billion from Parastatals.

    The Economic Sector is to receive N174.389 billion; Social Services, N68.782; Environmental and Urban Development, N34.633 billion and General Administration, N62.711 billion.

    Akpabio said one of the strategies for implementing the 2013 Budget is to build a strong fiscal regime through the expansion of the revenue base and the elimination of wastages and leakages.

    Assessing the 2012 Budget, the governor said: “It was a huge success for the 2012 Budget to be passed into law last year before the 2012 fiscal year began. This administration did its best to implement the budget as passed by the House.

    “We added consolidation in next year’s budget proposal because the industralisation projects that were enunciated in the 2012 budget will be pursued and consolidated on to give the state an industrial boost. We will focus on the completion of ongoing projects across the state.

    “Already, our tremendous achievements in various aspects of our corporate existence have resulted in phenomenal development that has never been seen in Nigeria before.

    “We intend to make our people happy, prosperous, healthy and fulfilled in life through the improvement and sustenance of the on-going socio-economic transformation projects.”

  • Akpabio swears in new deputy governor

    Akpabio swears in new deputy governor

    Akwa Ibom state governor, Chief Godswill Akpabio, yesterday swore in Lady Valerie Ebe as the new Deputy Governor four days after the resignation of the last occupant, Nsima Ekere.

    Akpabio said the swearing into office of Ebe would fast track the development of the state.

    The Governor spoke at the Government House in Uyo, the state capital.

    Akpabio said: “The change of baton in the Office of the Deputy Governor was nothing more than a shift of gear.

    “I believe that, everything considered, we will run faster in the pace of our development and our momentum will only increase.

    “The partnership for change between my administration and the good people of Akwa Ibom state is still on.”

    He advised his deputy against failure even as he paid tribute to the contributions of Lady Ebe who earlier served as commissioner in two different ministries and in a government agency.

    According to Akpabio, Lady Ebe’s contribution as a woman would break new grounds for the women, noting that Akwa Ibom is leading in the revolution for gender equality in the country with the swearing in of first female Deputy Governor 25 years after the state creation.

    Acccording to him: “The burden of being the first is that her performance and achievements will either break new ceilings for women or close the ceilings against them. She cannot afford to fail.

    “Though gender was not a consideration in her appointment, a section of the public would definitely see it as being at the vanguard of our faith for more women participation in governance.

    “By her appointment, we now have a triumvirate of women in key positions like the Chief Judge, Head of Civil and a Deputy Governor.

    Akwa Ibom is definitely leading the revolution for gender equality in our country.”

    The governor congratulated her as he recalled that as commissioner, Lady Ebe had served the state with honour, distinction, integrity and enthusiasm and enjoined her to bring those attributes to her new office, while also seeing herself as a servant, indigene of the 31 local government areas and a friend of all.

    On the out-gone Deputy Governor, Ekere, Akpabio acknowledged his services to the state since 2007, when he served as the Chairman of the Akwa Ibom Investment and Promotions Council, (AKIIPOC).

    Ebe was born on March 26, 1947 in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area under Akwa Ibom South Senatorial District and had served a Commissioner for Culture and Tourism as well as that for Environment in addition to having served as a state PDP Legal Adviser.

  • BoI, Akwa Ibom pool N5b loan for entrepreneurs

    BoI, Akwa Ibom pool N5b loan for entrepreneurs

    The Bank of Industry (BoI) the Akwa Ibom state government have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to provide N5 billion soft loan for lending to entrepreneurs and training of small-scale business people in the state.

    Akwa Ibom Governor, Godswill O. Akpabio signed the MoU for the State Government while the Managing Director of Bank of Industry, Ms. Evelyn Oputu signed for the bank, according to a statement from Akwa Ibom.

    Addressing journalists yesterday, the Special Adviser on Industrialisation and Akwa Ibom Industrial and Investment Promotion Council (AKIIPOC), Mr. Senas Ukpanah said the effort was in line with Governor Akpabio’s electioneering promise to promote industrialisation policy in the state.

    Ukpanah hinted that the Federal Government would support the loan scheme with N2.5 billion while the state Government would put N2.5 billion for lending to investors.

    Meanwhile, Governor Akpabio has pledged to partner the bank in order to create entrepreneurship and capacity development in the agro-allied sector.

    Akpabio, who stated when Ms. Oputu paid him a courtesy visit at Government House, Uyo, pledged to enter into a MoU with the bank.

    He stated that his administration would provide land for interested investors, adding that the state budgeted N20 billion soft loan this year to partner the private sector in establishing industries in the state.

    Earlier, the Managing Director of BoI had congratulated the Governor on the provision of quality infrastructure in the state.

    She lamented that the entrepreneurship programme was at the lowest level, attributing low patronage of industries in the country to lack of infrastructure.

    The BoI boss stated the bank would do a lot of training of small-scale business people and provision of facilities to them, calling for proper utilization of funds by the prospective beneficiaries