On Tuesday, April 7, the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly approved a measure creating a Mental Health Services Department to oversee and enhance the provision of mental health services throughout the state.
This came after Hon. Moses Essien, the chairman of the House Committee on Health, presented a report during the plenary.
According to Essien, the law will improve access to high-quality mental healthcare, rehabilitation, and community-based treatment while protecting the rights of people with intellectual, psychosocial, and cognitive disabilities and offering a coordinated framework for mental health services in Akwa Ibom State.
He claims that the legislation’s main features include removing the antiquated Lunacy Law of 1916, enabling the Commissioner for Health to create the required regulations, and providing instructions for gaining consent for treatment.
Essien urged his colleagues to accept the committee’s recommendations and thanked the Speaker and the members of the house for their assistance.
The House was dissolved into the Committee of the Whole to study the bill section by clause after discussions. Following the report’s adoption, the measure underwent a third reading.
Following a motion for adoption made by Hon. Jerry Otu and seconded by Hon. Prince Aniefiok Attah, the Speaker, Rt. Hon. (Elder) Udeme Otong, declared it to have been passed into law.
Mrs. Nsiakak Abasi Orok, the House Clerk, was instructed by the Speaker to forward the resolution to the State Governor for assent.
On March 10, 2026, the measure underwent a second reading before being referred to the committee for further examination.
The committee invited memoranda from health sector stakeholders for a public hearing on March 23, 2026, in accordance with legislative process.
