As 20 principal officers of the National Assembly (NASS) gather in Ikot-Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State for a retreat, leaders in all sectors in the state including businessmen, and other professionals have asked the lawmakers to adopt the infrastructural development legacy of immediate past governor, Mr Udom Emanuel, as a template in formulating legislative policies for national development.
The eminent personality group, under the aegis of Professionals for Development in Akwa Ibom, believes that such infrastructure development that abound in the state constitute the major attraction for the Senate to choose Akwa Ibom as the destination for their retreat.
The retreat which began yesterday was arranged by the National Institute for Legislative Studies (NILS), as a retooling opportunity for the new leadership of the National Assembly.
Leading a pack of 20 leaders of the federal legislature to the retreat is the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio and the House of Representatives Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas.
The national coordinator of the group, Engr. Ufot Akan Umoren, in a pre-retreat goodwill message to the senators yesterday, said the senators will witness the massive infrastructural development that created a legacy of leadership left behind by the immediate past governor of the state.
The group said, “From the point of take-off to Uyo, Akwa Ibom capital, our Distinguished Senators will be boarding aircrafts of one of the most efficient airlines in Nigeria, the Ibom Air, established by Udom Emmanuel.”
“From the city of Uyo, the lawmakers will be driving to Ikot -Ekpene for their retreat through a 25-kilometer Uyo-Ikot Ekpene dual carriage thoroughfare express road constructed by Julius Berger PLC under Udom Emmanuel.
“The venue of the retreat, the famous state-of-the-art Four Points by Sheraton, Ikot Ekpene, which was a carcass; abandoned by a previous administration before Udom Emmanuel reactivated, completed the building and invited Four Points by Sheraton thus turning the then moribund structure to a first class in the tourism and hospitality sector in Nigeria.”
