C-River Lawmaker Explains Palliatives For Constituents
- Floats Bridge Cooperative Scheme (BCS) for poverty alleviation
BY UBON EKANEM, CALABAR – A Federal lawmaker from Cross River State, Rt Hon, Bassey Akiba has distanced himself from the much-touted Christmas palliatives purportedly allocated to his constituents from the presidency
Rt Hon Akiba, who represents Calabar Municipality/Odukpani Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, said reports about his being the designated courier of so-called presidential palliatives during the Yuletide are not only baseless but unfounded.
He told newsmen in Calabar, the state capital that whatever welfare packages and arrangements put in place came through personal investment and efforts at providing succour for his constituents during the festive season
Declaring bodily that the palliatives distributed to the people had no links whatsoever with the presidency but purely from his pocket, Akiba, who is of the Labour Party (LP) said with the politicking time over, the need to cater for the people’s welfare has become paramount.
He also maintained that all National Assembly have decided to close ranks in their determination to work towards meeting the expectations of Nigerians in terms of effectively delivering democracy dividends to the people.
The lawmaker frowned at misleading information about the palliatives, noting that if those behind such unfounded reports were out to cause rancour along party lines, such motive has failed as the truth is that it is not possible for the presidency to provide two trailer loads of rice for distribution across all the federal constituencies in the country.
He said a breakdown of such a misconstrued palliative arrangements would have resulted in each federal constituency being provided with an equivalent of two trailer loads of rice, noting that such gestures would be difficult and unrealisable under the current harsh economic situation in the country.
Akiba warned mischief makers to learn to draw a line between politicking and governance, as this period should be dedicated to exploring avenues for good governance and important things beneficial to the people.
Forefront News notes that going by his vision to initiate economic structures focused on alleviating poverty and improving lives and livelihoods across all the political wards in his Constituency, Akiba, who is the Deputy Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Healthcare Services, has initiated the Bridge Cooperative Scheme (BCS).
As part of his intervention to improve livelihoods in the constituency, he recently disbursed funds running into several millions of Naira to the leadership and members of BCS and other constituents during the Yuletide
He pledged to continuously prioritize the welfare and well-being of his constituents through the Cooperative Scheme and many more programmes and intervention packages.
On the ‘Bridge Cooperative’, the lawmaker described it as “one of our developmental initiatives aimed at fostering social cohesion, alleviating and elevating lives and livelihoods, especially the vulnerable and less-privileged in society.We look forward to better days ahead as we continue to impact many more lives.”