The House of Assembly member for Ibiono Ibom State Constituency, Obong Ime Okon held a get together party yesterday in Uyo to express appreciation to foot soldiers of his Restoration 2011 Campaign committee for their toils and sweats that saw him through the April 2011 House of Assembly polls. Explaining why the thank you party not as earlier as expected, the lawmaker stated that the delay was due to the various litigations instituted by his opponents that dragged from the election petition tribunal up to the Supreme Court intentionally to cause distraction.
Okon, who chairs the rules, business, ethics and privileges committee in the House, lauded the ‘Restoration Team’ for its maximum support and cooperation during and after the election and throughout the period the matter lasted in the court.
‘Many of you were wondering why this event had not taken place before now, but, I want to bring to your notice and I know most of you are aware that shortly after election, we had cases in the Courts, from the election tribunal to the Court of Appeal, up to the Supreme Court. And I want to announce to you that just in December last year, the matter at the Supreme Court was settled. So, I still remain your elected representative in the State House of Assembly’, Okon, said, ‘the right time to come and say thank you to all of you who stood by me throughout the period is now. And I want to tell you thank you really from the depth of my heart to members of the restoration team’. On the forthcoming local government elections, the lawmaker cautioned aspirants to the office of the Chairman of Ibiono Ibom local council to consider the aspirations of Ibiono Ibom people uppermost in their politicking. Noting that peace was vitally needed in the area in order to maximize the gains of democracy and good governance, he cautioned that the council leadership be carefully selected during the forth-coming Local Government elections to completely restore political dignity to the area.
Stressing that to maintain the existing peace and political stability in the area, the election of the next chairman of Ibiono Ibom must be devoid of any form of sentiment or favouritism to ensure that whoever emerges as the next chairman would complement the existing hierarchy of politicians who are determined to draw development to the area.
Reflecting on what Ibiono Ibom has suffered in the past, the lawmaker expressed appreciation to God, the political class, the elites and other stakeholders for rising against tyrannical leaders who injuriously exacted powers on the people without that genuine intention to deliver dividends of democracy to the very people who voted them to power.
”The local government area has experienced peace as i am not interested in power but in governance, I am always willing to compromise if that is necessary for peace to reign and for things to be done right.”
Okon who warned politicians against using and dumping supporters after achieving their aim of securing political offices, maintained that it was an act of ingratitude for any elected political office holder to ignore or shun supporters considering the fact that no politician can win election on his or her own without an unbreakable support from members of his constituency.
The lawmaker therefore pledged his continued commitment to the welfare of his constituents and development of Ibiono Ibom, pledged to operate an open door policy and to ensure that he carries everyone along.“Everyone is very free to come around me, my office has no protocol, if I cannot solve all your problems at once, I should at least be able to reduce them”. He assured
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