Among the pool of candidates jostling to represent Etinan State Constituency in the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, from 2023, Barr Paul Gibson George stands out as the most acceptable, most exposed, learned and most trusted.
The flagbearer of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) is indeed reliable enough to be entrusted with the mandate.
Etinan, famed as the brain basket of Akwa Ibom State, deserves to be represented by an intellectual genius in the mould of Barr Paul George.
According to him, his aspiration is a people-driven one, borne out of the clamour and desire of domesticating legislation.
By this, he implies obtaining inputs from the constituents and making same form integral parts of Bills, Motions, Oversight and other official exploits during his sojourn in the state parliament.
He added that his familiarity with the nooks and crannies of the Constituency gives him an added advantage because he understands the peculiar needs of each place within Etinan.
Barr. George identified unemployment, poverty, lack of quality education, lack of basic amenities, infrastructural deficit, ineffective healthcare delivery and few others as the peculiar needs of Etinan State Constituency.
These, according to him, can be rectified through vigorous legislation encompassing lawmaking, oversight, attraction/facilitation of projects, scholarship and financial empowerment of entrepreneurs.
One may wonder if he indeed possesses the nous and skill-set to deliver on the task.
Well, his profile answers it perfectly!
He hails from Ikot Nte village, Southern Iman in Etinan LGA.
His academic background is a glittering as his blueprint. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting (1995) from the prestigious University of Lagos; Masters Degree in Banking and Finance (1996) from the University of Benin; LL.B in Law (2010) and LL.M in Constitutional Politics, Law and Theory (2019) both from the University of London, United Kingdom.
The Assembly hopeful has been an associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (ACIB) since 1988.
He was called to the Bar, as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in (2012).
Not only has his academic background straddled banking and law, his career also does same.
Barr Paul George cut his professional teeth in 1983 when he joined Savannah Bank PLC as a clerical officer and steadily rose to become the Banking Operations Officer.
He became a pioneer staff of Commerce Bank PLC in 1989, and rose to become the Senior Branch Manager of the Idowu Taylor Branch, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Upon leaving the shores of Nigeria for the United Kingdom in 1998, he worked as a Health and Safety Advisor in the team on renewal infrastructure projects for Her Majesty’s Government.
In 2012, he joined the law firm of A O & Associates Solicitors as a junior associate and partner, before rising to become a senior partner of the firm in 2016. A member of the Ikeja branch of the Nigerian Bar Association, he has a private law firm in Lagos, Nigeria.
His vast academic and professional backgrounds, plus his integrity, soaring popularity and wide acceptance put him in pole position for the 2023 Assembly race.
Indeed Barr Paul Gibson George epitomizes a situation where preparation meets opportunity. Indeed he came prepared!
