Aloysius Akpan Etok

Aloysius Akpan Etok
National Senator
Incumbent
Assumed office
2003
Constituency Akwa Ibom North West
Personal details
Born 15 February 1958 (1958-02-15) (age 54)
Political party People's Democratic Party (PDP)
Profession Management Consultant, Politician

Aloysius Akpan Etok is a Nigerian senator who represents the People's Democratic Party (PDP) in Akwa Ibom State. He became a member of the Nigerian Senate in 2007.[1]

Background

Aloysius Akpan Etok was born on 15 February 1958 in Usuk Obio Ediene in Akwa Ibom State. He has a B.Sc.(Hons) from the University of Calabar. Between 1976 and 2007 he worked in a variety of government and business posts, including a position as a board member of the Akwa-Ibom State Water Corp.[2] In 1999 he was publisher of a new magazine, the Ntieyong Business Review.[3] He assisted in the foundation of Fortune High School in 2002.[4]

From 1992-1993, he was a member of the House Of Representatives in Abuja, where he served as minority whip. From 1999-2003, he was a member of the Akwa-Ibom State House Of Assembly, Uyo.[1] He failed to be nominated to stand for the Ikono constituency for a second term.[5] In November 2004, he was chairman of the transport and special projects committee of the Akwa Ibom State Assembly.[6]

In October 2008 his wife was kidnapped in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital.[7] The kidnappers demanded an N1 billion ransom.[8] She was released several weeks later.[9]

Senate career

Aloysius Akpan Etok was elected to the National Senate for the Akwa Ibom North West constituency in 2007.[1]

In October 2008, Aloysius Etok and other Niger Delta senators appealed to the militants to cease hostilities, while asking for continued but restrained military presence.[10] Akwa Ibom may be the largest producer of crude oil among the Delta states. In May 2009, Etok petitioned the president to allow Akwa-Ibom State to nominate the managing director of the Niger Delta Development Commission.[11] In 2009, he sponsored a bill to provide for the establishment of the Environmental Managers Registration Council of Nigeria[12]

As chairman of the Senate Committee on Rules and Business, Senator Etok faced criticism for the fact that in 2008 the Nigerian Senate only showed up to work for 90 days and passed only eight of the 120 bills submitted. Etok explained that lawmaking was slow because it is a thorough process that involves numerous steps.[13] However, Etok noted that the senate passed 199 bills in the 10 years from 1999 to 2009, and told reporters that the upper chamber had done "very well in 10 years".[14]

He was appointed a member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, chaired by Joel Danlami Ikenya, which in 2009 was trying to push through the Financial Reporting Council Bill.[15] In July 2009, a motion sponsored by Senator Bassey Ewa-Henshaw and others to force the naming of directors of failed banks involved in insider loan abuses concerning N94.4bn of government agency funds was dropped. Senator Etok stated that he had been at an overseas conference at the time, and was not aware of what had happened.[16]

Aloysius Etok was reelected on the PDP platform as senator for Akwa Ibom North West in April 2011. He polled 383,607 votes to defeat the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) candidate, Joe Ukpong, who scored 11,827 votes.[17]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Sen. Aloysius Akpan Etok". National Assembly of Nigeria. http://www.nassnig.org/senate/member.php?senator=24. Retrieved 2009-09-22. 
  2. ^ "Senator Etok's Biography". Senator Aloysius Etok. http://senatoraloysiusetok.com/Biography.html. Retrieved 2009-09-22. 
  3. ^ "Journals: Ntieyong Business Review". Walter de Gruyter. 1999.25.3. http://www.reference-global.com/doi/abs/10.1515/abpr.1999.25.3.239. Retrieved 2009-09-22. 
  4. ^ "Fortunes Schools System". Fortunes Schools System. http://fortuneschoolssystem.com/FortuneHighSchool.html. Retrieved 2009-09-22. 
  5. ^ "2003: Sidelined State Law Makers (1)". This Day. 16 Nov 2004. http://www.thisdayonline.com/archive/2003/03/02/20030302spe01.html. Retrieved 2009-09-22. 
  6. ^ "Assembly Complex Ready for Use Next Week". This Day. 16 Nov 2004. http://www.thisdayonline.com/archive/2002/01/25/20020125sta08.html. Retrieved 2009-09-22. 
  7. ^ "Uyo residents groan as kidnappers, robbers return". The Nation. 2009-07-28. http://thenationonlineng.net/web2/articles/11992/1/Uyo-residents-groan-as-kidnappers-robbers-return/Page1.html. Retrieved 2009-09-22. 
  8. ^ "N1bn Ransom demanded over abducted Senator's wife". Independent Newspapers Limited. October 19, 2008. http://odili.net/news/source/2008/oct/19/709.html. Retrieved 2009-09-22. 
  9. ^ "Ekweremadu's mother escapes kidnap". Guardian Newspapers. February 24, 2009. http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/news/article15//indexn3_html?pdate=240209&ptitle=Ekweremadu's%20mother%20escapes%20kidnap%20&cpdate=293008. Retrieved 2009-09-22. 
  10. ^ "Military in the Niger Delta". This Day. 7 October 2008. http://allafrica.com/stories/200810080423.html. Retrieved 2009-09-22. 
  11. ^ "A/Ibom, Rivers in Fresh Battle over NDDC’s Top Position". BusinessWorld. July 2, 2009. http://businessworldng.com/web/articles/575/1/AIbom-Rivers-in-Fresh-Battle-over-NDDCs-Top-Position/Page1.html. Retrieved 2009-09-22. 
  12. ^ "Environmental Managers To Get Council". The Mace (National Assembly). 11 May 2009. http://www.themaceonline.com/pub/index.php?view=article&catid=8:latest-news&id=56:environmental-managers-to-get-council&format=pdf. Retrieved 2009-09-22. 
  13. ^ "Should Nigeria's Senate be Shown the Door?". The African Executive. http://www.africanexecutive.com/modules/magazine/sections.php?magazine=211&sections=5. Retrieved 2009-09-22. 
  14. ^ "Senate passes 199 bills in 10 years". Business Day. 09 JUNE 2009. http://www.businessdayonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3107:senate-passes-199-bills-in-10-years&catid=85:national&Itemid=340. Retrieved 2009-09-22. 
  15. ^ "Senate committee seeks stakeholders' support for financial reporting council bill". Guardian Newspapers. June 22, 2009. http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/business/article07//indexn3_html?pdate=220609&ptitle=Senate%20committee%20seeks%20stakeholders'%20support%20for%20financial%20reporting%20council%20bill&cpdate=220609. Retrieved 2009-09-22. 
  16. ^ "Failed Banks: Senate dumps motion on trapped N94.4bn public funds". ProShare Limited. July 2009. http://www.proshareng.com/news/singleNews.php?id=7274. Retrieved 2009-09-22. 
  17. ^ EMMANUEL CHIDIOGO (APRIL 11, 2011). "PDP sweeps Akwa-Ibom". Daily Times. http://dailytimes.com.ng/article/pdp-sweeps-akwa-ibom. Retrieved 2011-04-21.