Pilgrim’s Board of Fraud

* AKHA stops sales of forms
* summons Board Secretary for interrogation
* citizens commend Lawmaker

BY EMMANUEL AKPAN

The Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly last Thursday directed Pilgrim Welfare Board to put on hold the ongoing selling of 2015 Pilgrim forms due to the alleged fraud that has marred the activities of the board.
This was brought to the notice of the House of Assembly through a Matter of Urgent Public Importance by the member representing Esit Eket/Ibeno State Constituency, Hon. Usoro Akpanusoh during plenary.
Hon. Usoro Akpanusoh in his motion had informed the House that he has received a lot of petitions against the Pilgrim Welfare Board from his constituents as well as the general public over what they described as fraudulent activities in the board, citing a situation where thousands of people would buy the pilgrim forms and at the end of the exercise, names of selected few would be published for the trip.

Usoro Akpanusoh who is the Chairman, House Committee on Finance and Appropriations in his prayers urged the House to investigate the activities of the board, saying affected persons who confided in him want the House of Assembly to immediately call the board to order and ensure that the right thing is done.
After the motion was received by the House, the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Hon. Aniekan Uko said he has received the same complaints from members of the public. He wondered why the board would be extorting money from members of the public in the name of selling pilgrim forms. The speaker cited a situation where the board would sale forms to over 2,000 and at the end of the exercise only 500 names would be published for the trip.
According to the Speaker, “I wonder why the pilgrim Board will be in need of only 500 people, but goes ahead to sale 2000 forms with a non refundable price tag. It is a calculated attempt to defraud innocent citizens and we as the people’s House of Assembly, we will not accept it. What is wrong in issuing out the number of forms for the number of people needed for the trip?”
Aniekan Uko however directed the Clerk of the House, to write a letter notifying the board to stop all selling of forms and that the Secretary of the Board should appear before the House for explanations.
Speaking with THE INK correspondent shortly after the plenary, some of the Akwa Ibom citizens who attended the sitting commended the member representing Esit Eket/Ibeno State Constituency, Hon. Usoro Akpanusoh for bringing up the issue to the notice of the House of Assembly. They called on the House to match words with actions to ensure that the fraudulent activities of the Pilgrim Welfare Board are put to an end.