Two weeks after Akwa Ibom state government dissolved non-statutory boards, all chairmen and members of the affected boards refused to comply with the dissolution notice.
Governor Umo Eno had directed the secretary to the state government Mr Enobong Uwa to notify the public and board appointees of the dissolution of all non-statutory boards in the state.
In a circular dated 7 June 2023, Uwa communicated government order for all boards and members to quit as directed by the governor.
Investigation reveals that two weeks after the boards were officially dissolved, all chairmen and members are still intact in their respective offices .
Speaking to our Correspondent in Uyo on Wednesday, one of the Board Chairmen who pleaded anonymity said the Board Chairmen and members were not ready to quit.
He said the government circular on the board dissolution was ambiguous as government never spell out what they described as ” Non-Statutory Boards”.
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“Mention the Board established in the state without a legal backing? Every government board has statutory backup.
” Therefore, when you want Non-statutory boards to be dissolved, you have to tell us which board has non statutory status in the state.
“We are still waiting for government to bring out the list of Non statutory boards so that we know which one is affected or not. We can’t just leave with this ambiguity.” he said
The Board chairmen complained of government inability to pay subventions to all the boards in the state adding that some of the boards could not perform because of financial difficulties.
” Till now we have not received our subventions and staff salaries are not paid . How can you talk of dissolving the board when responsibilities of government were not fulfilled.” he said.
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