A former Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Chief Nduese Essien has challenged public office holders to always make accountability and diligence their watchwords in any position they find themselves.
Chief Essien who blamed corruption for the poor level of development attained in the country, maintained that the ongoing attempt at constitutional amendment will not yield any positive impact except corruption was holistically tackled in the country.
Chief Nduese Essien maintained that virtually everyone in public office was culpable of corruption which according to him is endemic and might need unconventional methods to be uprooted and frowned at the embarrassing level of corruption which has placed the country among the most corrupt nations in the world
The former national assembly lawmaker who was among eminent Akwa Ibom sons and daughters honoured by the Ekid People’s Union at a colourful ceremony in Eket, thanked the people for welcoming him back home, after several years of meritorious service to his country.
Addressing a mammoth crowd including the State Deputy Governor at the Eket Sports Stadium, he said that leadership as a platform for service delivery, will make no meaning if the leaders fail to deliver dividends of democracy to their people, and maintained that his tenure at the federal level brought about several infrastructural development and empowerment programmes to the state.
For equity and justice, Chief Nduese Essien urged the people of the State to support Eket senatorial district in the 2015 governorship race, maintaining that it was only logical that the district is given such an opportunity as the producer of the natural wealth that has been used to transform the state.
Others including the senator representing the district in the national assembly, Senator Helen Esuene, the Paramount Ruler of Eket, Chief Simeon Oduoenyi, the Paramount Ruler of Onna Edidem Akpabio Udo Ukpa, and the leadership of the Ekid People’s Union, all made a case for power shift to Eket Senatorial district in 2015.
Responding, the State Governor Chief Godswill Akpabio, through his deputy Lady Valerie Ebe maintained that for their wish concerning 2015 to materialize, the people of the district must exhibit love and unity within themselves, and urged them to continue supporting his administration.
Earlier, a former Minister of Petroleum Resources and member of the PDP board of Trustees, Chief Don Etiebet who chaired the occasion, commended the people of Ekid nation for acknowledging the contributions of their prominent sons and daughters, and described the honourees as deserving of the recognitions.