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  • Updated: May 27, 2021

Awaji-Inombek Abiante: The Taxi Driver-Turned-Lawmaker Behind The Bill To Scrap NYSC

Awaji-Inombek Abiante: The Taxi Driver-Turned-Lawmaker Behin

Image source: Daily post

The bill to scrap the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) introduced by Awaji-Inombek Abiante, a member of the House of Representatives, which scaled 2nd reading last week has generated a lot of reactions from Nigerians.

Dr. Awaji-Inombek Abiante, the man who sponsored the bill represents Andoni-Opobo/Nkoro Federal Constituency of Rivers State under the People's Democratic Party at the 9th National Assembly.

Awaji-Inombek Abiante also popularly called Awaji Abiante is a member of the House Committee on Basic Education

His earlier mandate to represent Andoni-Opobo/Nkoro Federal Constituency of Rivers State in 2015 was nullified by the Court of Appeal.

Hon. AwajiHe contested again and won in 2019 and since his re-election, the lawmaker has been quite vocal regarding various issues tabled before the House of Representatives.

In 2020, he had urged the House to return the 2021 budget estimate of over N13 trillion to the executive when the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, and Director-General, Budget Office, Mr. Ben Akabueze, failed to appear before the House Committee on Science and Technology to answer questions bothering on inadequate allocation to Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) under the Ministry of Science and Technology.

In March 2021, he had made a case for Rivers and Bayelsa States by urging the Ministry of Power to work towards completing the installation of 333KVA Line in Onne, Rivers, and Bayelsa.

In the wake of school resumption after the COVID-19 lockdown, the Lawmaker stated that public schools lack the capacity to observe COVID-19 protocol and accused the federal government of not doing enough to provide basic means of adhering to the COVID-19 protocols.

In an interview with PUNCH in 2020, he made it known that it was unfair that northern states get Value Added Tax (VAT) from beer.

Honorable Awaji Abiante has sponsored quite a number of bills including the following:

  • The National Institute for Brackish Water Fisheries Research, Ngo-Andoni (Establishment) Bill, 2019 (passed).
  • The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Alteration) Bill, 2019 (First reading).
  • Closed Circuit Television (Compulsory Installation etc.) Bill, 2019 (Awaiting committee report).
  • River Niger Transit Act (Repeal) Bill, 2019 (Awaiting Committee report).
  • Nigerian Citizens Moral Accountability Bill, 2020 (First Reading).

Honorable Awaji-Inombek also sponsored a bill to make each state retain not less than 50 percent of the revenue generated from its natural resources. The bill was however controversially stepped down at the second reading.

The Lawmaker whose mother was kidnapped sometime in 2015, stated that the NYSC scheme should be scrapped as a result of the incessant killing of innocent corps members in some parts of the country, which has further heightened by the now frequent incidences of banditry, religious extremism, and ethnic violence.

NYSCAbiante is happily married with children. In December 2020, he took to the Redeemed Christain Church of God to celebrate his 20th year wedding anniversary with his wife Mrs Agnes Abiante. At the anniversary celebration, Awaji Abiante revealed that he had gone through very rough times before becoming a lawmaker. He said his current family-in-law tried to persuade Agnes, his wife against marrying him because he was a taxi driver even with his M.Sc degree.  

A PhD degree holder, the lawmaker has a scholarly article titled 'Heavy Metal Contamination of Selected Foods from the Oil Producing State of Akwa Ibom in Southern Nigeria' in the Pakistan Journal Of Nutrition, volume 18, issue 12.  

 

 

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