Akwa Ibom Assembly passes Ekpo-Ufot bill to establish Bureau for ICT/emerging technologies
Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly has passed into law The Akwa Ibom State Bureau for ICT and Emerging Technologies Law, 2025 on Thursday, 9th January 2024.
The bill is sponsored by the Member representing Etinan State Constituency and Chairman of the Committee Committee on Science & Technology, Hon (Engr) Uduak-Obong Ekpo-Ufot, (PDP).
Addressing the plenary, Ekpo-Ufot said the Bill which has 39 clauses, seeks to Coordinate, Own, Administer, Standardize, Strategic Plan, Monitor, (in their respective entireties) ALL the ICT-related assets in the best interest of Akwa Ibomites & the Akwa Ibom State Government as a whole. ICT-related assets including but not limited to: Domain Names, All Official Websites across the Executive, Legislative, Judiciary, Boards & Commissions, Local Government Councils, Parastatals, MDAs, and agencies.
He further said that the Bill, when assented to, would strengthen the Executive framework for the functioning of the Ministry of Science & Digital Economy and also Provide guidelines to facilitate the establishment and maintenance of appropriate information technology and system application and development in Akwa Ibom for public and private sectors urban- rural development; the economy and government in line with NITDA (National Information Technology Development Bureau) guidelines.
The Bill, when assented to, will also Prepare Akwa Ibom State for the Emerging Technologies of the future develop guidelines for electronic governance and monitor the use of electronic data interchange and other forms of electronic data interchange and other forms of electronic communication transactions as an alternative to paper-based methods in government, commerce, education, private & public sector, labour and other fields, where the use of electronic communication may improve the exchange of data & information
Honorable Uduak-Obong Ekpo-Ufot, a skilled orator, has adeptly facilitated the enactment of multiple Private Member Bills, namely the Akwa Ibom State Start-Up Bill, A Bill For A Law to End Discrimination Against People With Disabilities, and the Akwa Ibom State Bureau for ICT & Emerging Technologies Bill. Pending executive assent by Governor Pastor Umo Eno, these bills are poised to become law.
