Aloysius Akpan Etok is a Nigerian senator who was elected on the

People's Democratic Party People's Democratic Party or ''variant thereof'', could refer to: * People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan *People's Democratic Party (Belize) *People's Democratic Party (Bhutan) *People's Democratic Party (Chile) * People's Democratic Party (Dom ...

(PDP) platform

Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial District Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial District in Akwa Ibom State covers 10 local government areas which comprise Abak, Essien, Etim Ekpo, Ika, Ikono, Ikot Ekpene, Ini, Obot, Oruk Anam and Ukanafun Ukanafun is located in the South South of Nigeri ...

Akwa Ibom State Akwa Ibom State is a state in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered on the east by Cross River State, on the west by Rivers State and Abia State, and on the south by the Atlantic Ocean. The state takes its name from the Qua Iboe ...

. He became a member of the

Nigerian Senate The Senate is the upper chamber of Nigeria's bicameral legislature, the National Assembly of Nigeria. The National Assembly (popularly referred to as NASS) is the nation's highest legislature, whose power is to make laws, is summarized in chapt ...

in 2007.

Background

Aloysius Akpan Etok was born on 15 February 1958 in Usuk Obio Ediene in Akwa Ibom State. He has a BSc (Hons) from the

University of Calabar The University of Calabar is a public university, public List of universities in Nigeria, university situated in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria. It is one of Nigeria's second generation federal universities. The University of Calabar was a ...

. Between 1976 and 2007 he worked in a variety of government and business posts, including a position as a board member of the Akwa-Ibom State Water Corp. In 1999, he was publisher of a new magazine, the Ntieyong Business Review. He assisted in the foundation of Fortune High School in 2002. From 1992 to 1993, Etok was a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

Abuja Abuja () is the capital and eighth most populous city of Nigeria. Situated at the centre of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), it is a planned city built mainly in the 1980s based on a master plan by International Plann ...

, where he served as minority whip. From 1999 to 2003, he was a member of the Akwa-Ibom State House of Assembly,

Uyo Uyo is the capital city of Akwa Ibom in South South Nigeria. Ibibio is the language spoken in Uyo. It became the capital on September 23, 1987 when Akwa Ibom was created from the former Cross River State. According to the 2006 Nigerian Cens ...

. He failed to be nominated to stand for the

Ikono Ikono is a Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, located in the South South of Nigeria. It is bounded at the North by Ini Local Government Area, South by Abak and Uyo Local Government Areas, East by Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area and West b ...

constituency for a second term. In November 2004, he was chairman of the transport and special projects committee of the Akwa Ibom State Assembly. In October 2008, his wife was kidnapped in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital. The kidnappers demanded a N1 billion ransom. She was released several weeks later.

Senate career

Etok was elected to the Nigerian Senate for the Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District in 2007. In October 2008, Etok and other

Niger Delta The Niger Delta is the delta of the Niger River sitting directly on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean in Nigeria. It is located within nine coastal southern Nigerian states, which include: all six states from the South South geopolitical ...

senators appealed to the

militants The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Latin " ...

to cease hostilities, while asking for continued but restrained military presence. Akwa Ibom may be the largest producer of crude oil among the Delta states. In May 2009, Etok petitioned the president to allow Akwa-Ibom State to nominate the managing director of the

Niger Delta Development Commission The Niger Delta Development Commission is a federal government agency established by Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo in the year 2000 with the sole mandate of developing the oil-rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria. In September 2008, Preside ...

. In 2009, he sponsored a bill to provide for the establishment of the Environmental Managers Registration Council of Nigeria As chairman of the Senate Committee on Rules and Business, Senator Etok faced criticism for the fact that in 2008 the Nigerian Senate only showed up to work for 90 days and passed only eight of the 120 bills submitted. Etok explained that lawmaking was slow because it is a thorough process that involves numerous steps. However, Etok noted that the senate passed 199 bills in the 10 years from 1999 to 2009, and told reporters that the upper chamber had done "very well in 10 years". He was appointed a member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, chaired by

Joel Danlami Ikenya Joel Danlami Ikenya (born 17 July 1962) is a Nigerian politician who was elected to represent the People's Democratic Party (PDP) as Senator for Taraba South in Taraba State in 2007. He was reelected in 2007, then in 2011 made an unsuccessful bi ...

, which in 2009 was trying to push through the Financial Reporting Council Bill. In July 2009, a motion sponsored by Senator

Bassey Ewa-Henshaw Bassey Ewa-Henshaw is a Nigerian politician who was elected Senator for the Cross River South constituency of Cross River State in 2003, and was reelected in 2007. Background Bassey Ewa-Henshaw was born on 4 May 1943. He attended the Methodist ...

and others to force the naming of directors of failed banks involved in insider loan abuses concerning N94.4bn of government agency funds was dropped. Senator Etok stated that he had been at an overseas conference at the time, and was not aware of what had happened. Etok was re-elected on the PDP platform as senator for Akwa Ibom North West in April 2011. He polled 383,607 votes to defeat the

Action Congress of Nigeria The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), formerly known as Action Congress (AC), was a Nigerian political party formed via the merger of a faction of Alliance for Democracy, the Justice Party, the Advance Congress of Democrats, and several othe ...

(ACN) candidate, Joe Ukpong, who scored 11,827 votes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Etok, Aloysius 1958 births Living people People from Akwa Ibom State Peoples Democratic Party members of the Senate (Nigeria) University of Calabar alumni Founders of Nigerian schools and colleges 21st-century Nigerian politicians