Ahead the 2015 elections, Governor of Akwa Ibom, Mr Godswill Akpabio just suffered a loss of support - amongst his kinsmen.
Here is why and how as sourced.
Political leaders from Essien Udim Local Government, the
home town of Akwa Ibom State’s Governor Godswill Akpabio, have condemned
him over his alleged disrespect and disloyalty to his predecessor,
Victor Attah, and one of the state’s elders and chieftain of the ruling
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Don Etiebet.
'The Essien Udim Council of Political Affairs, an umbrella
platform for all political leaders from the area, said in a statement
Saturday that it completely dissociates itself from disrespectful
utterances credited to Mr. Akpabio against the senior citizens and other
political leaders in the state.
The governor has consistently criticized those opposed to
his ambition to select his successor, declaring that nobody in the
state, including the elders, would stop him from realizing his objective
come 2015.
He is quoted to have said that any aspirant in the
forthcoming governorship race in 2015 in the state who does not receive
his blessings would be deemed to have entered the race through the
backdoor and deserves to die.
But the Council, in a statement issued by its President,
Aniefiok Akpan, at the end of its General Meeting at Afaha Ikot Ebak,
headquarters of Essien Udim Local Government Area, said such utterances
by the governor is capable of pitching him against elders in the state.
Although it noted the infrastructural development effort
of the state government, the Council drew attention to several other
parts of the state, including Essien Udim, yet to experience any form of
transformation.
“Council notes the high rate of hunger and poverty in Akwa
Ibom State, and advises that His Excellency, Chief Godswill Akpabio,
releases funds into the state economy through payment of salaries to
civil servants and debt to local contractors,” the council said in a
statement.
The Council said its position followed several
consultations with elders, women and youth of the Local Government on
the current political developments regarding the forthcoming PDP
primaries for the 2015 governorship election in the State.
He said Council was worried that the rising political
tension in the state could escalate to a point where the entire
political process, peace and governance in the State could be disrupted,
if not checked.
“Chief Godswill Akpabio’s utterances, the Council wishes
to point out, represent his opinion as a person and as a governor, and
by extension his government, and that those utterances do not have the
backing of Essien Udim people who are generally peaceful and respectful
of elders,” the Council said.
The Council sent its apologies to Mr. Attah, former
Minister Etiebet, and governorship aspirants and political leaders,
including former Secretary to the State Government, SGF, Umana Umana,
Samuel Akpan, Bassey Akpan, Ime Umanah and Nsima Ekere.
According to the Council, the apology was necessary in
view of the humiliation they suffered in Mr.
Akpabio’s hands, in spite
of their individual and collective political investments on him that
took him to where he finds himself today in the politics of the State
and Nigeria.
'Calling on the governor to refrain from any further public
utterance or action that could deepen the political and ethnic tension
in Akwa Ibom State, the Council said he should rather see himself as a
leader and father to all, and desist from endorsing, funding and
campaigning for any of the PDP governorship aspirants in state.
Mr. Akpan urged the governor to immediately initiate a
process for genuine reconciliation among Ibibio, Annang, Oro and other
ethnic groups in the state, as well as the different political factions
within PDP to ensure a peaceful and orderly poll next year.
But the political rift between the governor and his
opponents appeared to have heightened tension in political circles in
the state after Mr. Akpabio described Mr. Etiebet as ignorant, following
his criticism of his management of the state’s resources.
Mr. Etiebet had cited the monthly allocations from the
federation account to Akwa Ibom to buttress his assertion about the
state’s abundant wealth.
He also accused the governor of making a mess of the
federation account through “extreme profligacy, arbitrary and
non-budgetary spending, awards of inflated contracts and without due
processes, lack of accountability in budget implementation, lack of
information and transparencies on total receipts of revenues from all
sources and other financial recklessness”.
Making reference to allegations by the Minister of
Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who said that the state’s resources were
poorly managed, Mr. Etiebet described the governor’s claim of “uncommon
infrastructural development in Akwa Ibom” as nothing but “uncommon
propaganda for the uninformed”,
The former Minister of Petroleum Resources said Mr. Akpabio’s determination to install his successor by shutting the party’s doors against his perceived political enemies was a clever ploy to cover his tracks'
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