Lawmakers Storm RSIEC For Oversight Functions

Last Saturday’s local government elections dominated activities at the House of Assembly.
The House Committee on Agencies and Commissions conducted oversight functions on the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) last Tuesday.
Chairman of the committee, Hon. Nathaniel Uwaji, who led the committee members to RSIEC said that they were at the commission to ascertain the level of its preparedness for the elections.
Responding, Chairman of RSIEC Justice Chukunenye Uriri said the commission wasin top gear of preparation, as all logistics were being put in place to organise the elections successfully.
Conducting the committee members round the premises of the commission, Justice Uriri informed the lawmakers that it carried out renovation works on its premises, and had trained both staff and adhoc workforce ahead of the local government elections.
The RSIEC boss disclosed that it had started disbursing electoral materials to the different local government headquarters, adding that sensitive materials were to be moved two days ahead to avert any logistics short fall.
Meanwhile, Chairman, House Committee on Education and member representing Degema State Constituency, Doctor Farah Dagogo with in the week debunked claims by the Academic Staff Union of State College of Health that the committee has jettisoned the proposed bill to upgrade the status of the school.
In a statement, Hon. Dagogo explained that plans to reform and upgrade the status of the college were still underway .
According to the lawmaker, the Rivers State College of Health Science and Management Technology Bill 2017 is currently at the committee stage.
The statement said: “for the purpose of clarity, the Rivers State House of Assembly Committee on Education under my watch as Chairman has been able to mentor bills at the committee stages that have had direct bearing on our education sector with long lasting positive effects.
He assured that the committee would ensure that it passed the bill just like it did with Ken Saro Wiwa Polytechnic, Bori and the Rivers State University. “It’s our wish that the Rivers State College of Health Science and Management Technology is not left out”.
He further stated that the committee is done with the process of concluding on the bill passage and that the only hurdle now was to conduct a public hearing. “The public hearing, will be able to tap into the inputs from the public, which comprise all of us, because education cuts across all”, Dagogo stated.
Dagogo also assured that the bill cannot be truncated because of the committee’s commitment, as members are only pursuing and concluding the process that would reposition the institution for all the right reasons.