Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State has signed fourteen executive bills into law, describing the move as a significant step toward institutionalizing reforms under his ARISE Agenda.
The new laws establish several state agencies, including a Geographical Information Service to modernize land administration, a Senior Citizens Centre, a Hotels and Tourism Development Commission, and the Ibom Broadcasting Corporation. Additional legislation creates an Emergency Medical Services and Ambulance Systems Agency, a Public Procurement Regulatory Agency, a Betting and Lottery Regulatory Agency, a Fiscal Responsibility Board, an Internal Revenue Service, an Office of the Public Defender, a Water Users Association and a new University of Education in Afaha Nsit.
The governor also signed amendments decentralizing hospital administration into zonal management boards and announced plans to redeploy doctors from administrative roles back into clinical practice. He indicated that an Environmental Sanitation Bill would soon be sent to the state legislature to strengthen enforcement, along with further health sector reforms.
The Speaker of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Udeme Otong, described the package as one of the most significant legislative achievements of the current assembly, particularly praising the hospital management reforms.
