By Kennedy Nsan
Members of Cross River State House of Assembly with their colleagues from Plateau State are currently on a retreat in the Obudu Mountain Resort facilitated by a German Non Governmental Organisation (NGO), Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS).
The event is slated for Monday 14th – Thursday 17th June, 2015. The various legislators arrived at the Ranch Resort venue of the event yesterday and have kick-started the retreat proper this morning with the first session; Legislative Functions, Process, Power, Ethics and Privileges facilitated by Barrister Ayuba Gongu, Clerk, Plateau State House of Assembly.
The objective of the seminar is to equip newly elected state legislators with the basic skills needed to legislate for good governance and service delivery as well as help newly elected legislators to clarify their roles and responsibilities in the democratic process.
The retreat also seeks to foster collaboration between the executive and legislative branches, promote peace and conflict resolution, and lastly, provide opportunity for networking, peer learning and partnership amongst legislators from different regions in the country.
The event was opened by the Deputy Speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly, CRSHA, Hon Joseph Bassey, representing Calabar South 2.
He welcomed members to the retreat and apologized for the inability of the Speaker, Hon John Gaul Lebo to attend the event.
He charged members to take seriously what they have come to learn at the retreat and lauded the organizers, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung for the great work they have been doing in this regards since the beginning of fourth republic in 1999.