27/12/2022
*GET TO KNOW YOUR CANDIDATE*
*RT. HON. DR. EMAEYAK UKPONG (ATA EYEN ISONG)*
Rt Hon Dr Emaeyak Ukpong is the APC Candidate for Akwa Ibom North East (Uyo) Senatorial District . An urbane and cosmopolitan breed, with impeccable character and tremendous capacity to deliver results with outstanding competence. He carries a dignified persona juxtaposed with a kind of simplicity that gives him a mass appeal across all age grades, gender, religion, sect, tribe and creed.
Emaeyak has built a web of connection across the country and beyond, such that will make it seamless for him in mainstreaming Uyo Senatorial District into national politics. He has also, at one time or another, found himself undertaking critical and sensitive services and assignments for Akwa Ibom State and Nigeria, and he is poised to do more; some of which include:
• As Chairman, House Committee on Trade Union Matters, he brokered peace at various times between the Federal Government of Nigeria and aggrieved Labour Unions, and with the then NLC President, Adams Oshimole, superintended over the team that negotiated the 18 percent minimum wage for Nigerian civil servants. Similarly, as Chairman of the National Association of Labour Veterans, NALVET between 2012 - 2014, he made valid contributions that guided the Nigerian Labour Congress in maneuvering her way to get the FGN and the states government to agree to the adoption and implementation of the current minimum wage regime.
• As a Member of the 1999 National Assembly Constitution Review Committee, wherein Senator Udoudoma and his humble self represented Akwa Ibom Stat, Rt Hon Dr Ukpong worked assiduously with other colleagues from the other 35 states and FCT, to provide both the legislative and legal frameworks upon which the Amended Constitution is anchored
• As a Renowned Environmental Consultant and a Sub-Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Environment, his contributions in fashioning the Bill that led to the Acts that established the all-important Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), and the Abrogation of the Onshore/Offshore Dichotomy , were quite monumental.
• As a Member of the 1999-2003 House of Representatives DEMOCRACY GROUP, he was frontal in coordinating the attempted impeachment of then President Obansanjo for gross misconduct until they were prevailed upon by eminent International personalities like Thabo Mbeki of South Africa and General Yakubu Gowon,to drop the charges against him.
• As Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), UNIUYO Chapter(1993 - 1996), he championed the dismantling of the Yoruba tribal stranglehold on the senior management structure of the University of Uyo ; and later, whilst a member of the House of Representatives, he covertly sponsored the final annihilation of such a behemoth hegemony by a single tribe (Chancellor – the Alake of Egbaland, Pro Chancellor – Prof. Okoiso from Delta State but married to a Yoruba and lived most of his adult life in Lagos, Vice Chancellor – Prof. Fola Lasisi, Registrar – Mr. J.S. Aborisade, Dean of Post Graduate School – Prof. Aboderin, Chairman of Senate Business Committee – Prof. 😭. Gbamgboye, P.A to Vice Chancellor – Mallam Salawu ,and even the major contractors to the University), except for the complacent Deputy Vice Chancellor – Prof. E. Ekong who interrupted the chain.
Dr. Ukpong has travelled widely to attend International Conferences, Seminars, and Workshops to broaden his horizon and sharpen his skills and perspectives in the areas of Labour and Trade Unionism (International Labour Organisation (ILO) Headquarters, Switzerland - 2001); Offshore Oil Technology and Environmental Challenges Conferences in Norway - 2002, Houston, USA – 2003; Global Environmental Fund GEF, UK – 2001; the Structure of Government in Post-Unification Germany (Stuttgart – 2003); Patterns in Small Scale Co-operative Ventures or Businesses ( Italy – 2014).
As a Returning Member of the National Assembly, if voted as a Senator , and given his experience across the board, and hands -on accomplishments, Emaeyak will be a great asset to Uyo Senatorial District, Akwa Ibom State and the Country at large. He goes back to the National Assembly as a Ranking Senator, and not just a greenhorn wanting to learn the ropes.
