By George OPARA, Port Harcourt
Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly has passed into law a mental bill to regulate and improve mental healthcare delivery across the state.
The law was established to provide a coordinated framework for mental health services in the state and protect the rights of persons with intellectual, psycho-social and cognitive disabilities.
It will also improve access to quality mental healthcare, rehabilitation, and community-based treatment.
This development was sequel to the presentation of a report by the House Committee chairman on Health, Hon. Moses Essien at the plenary plenary.
The committee chairman said, key provisions of the legislation include guidelines for obtaining consent for treatment, empowering the Commissioner for Health to formulate necessary regulations, and repealing the outdated Lunacy Law of 1916.
The lawmaker, however, commended the Speaker and the members of the house for their support and urged his colleagues to adopt the committee’s recommendations.
As a matter of legislative procedure, the house dissolved into the Committee of the Whole for a clause-by-clause consideration of the bill, the report was subsequently adopted, and the bill passed through third reading.
The Speaker, Rt. Hon. (Elder) Udeme Otong, thereafter, announced its passage into law after a motion for adoption was moved by Hon. Jerry Otu and seconded by Hon. Prince Aniefiok Attah.
Otong directed the Clerk of the House, Mrs. NsiakakAbasi Orok, to transmit the resolution to the State Governor for assent.
Spear News gathered that the bill had earlier scaled second reading during March 10, 2026, plenary before it was referred to the committee for a detailed legislative work.
Recall that in adherence to legislative procedure, the committee had conducted a public hearing on March 23, 2026, inviting memoranda from stakeholders in the health sector.
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