Cease And Desist Warning To Ex- governor God’swill Akpabio
Our attention has been drawn to your crude attack on Governor Udom Emmanuel and his non-completion of the Uyo- Ikot Ekpene road and Sheraton Hotel in Ikot Ekpene during a social gathering organized by his deputy in Abak.
We view such open attack of a sitting governor by ex- governor if true, totally inappropriate, treasonous and unpatriotic and can stoke tension, inflame passion and promote division among the party’s base especially in the face of unfathomable evil the state is facing under APC Buhari’s leadership.
Your open, unjustified, reckless and unguarded attack on Emmanuel’s cash strapped government, has also aroused indignation among the party faithful, stoke worries about your trust worthiness and loyalty, sent a shiver, jolted uncertainties about your support for Udom Emmanuel’s second term in office and his political agenda you have sided with all along, in so along as it served your personal political agenda.
As you may recall, your political playbook heightened Akwa Ibom peoples’ anxieties and forced them to grapple with Emmanuel’s vulnerabilities. Some saw him as a failure, some as your puppet. Your influence and dominance were so infectious such that Udom’s initial cabinet appointments were primarily Annang as SSG, Annang as Deputy Governor, Annang majority cabinet members and Annang’s project revitalization which Uyo –Ikot Ekpene road and Sheraton Hotel projects and others represent.
You appear to allow your love of self to go between you and your service to the people of the state and are poised to shun Emmanuel and thus undermine support for PDP party in the state. We will not allow that to happen. Your attempt to destabilize the state and the party will be met with fierce resistance.
BRUTAL PAINFUL CHAPTER OF YOUR GOVERNANCE:
It’s heart breaking how successive governments of Akwa Ibom State have treated Eket Senatorial District. This has compelled us to ask the hard question. How did Eket Senatorial District, once a commercial center, economic and cultural life of Eastern Nigeria wind up in the back seat floor and our state so polarized?
Open up your heart and you will hear the hurting answers. Governor Attah’s leadership.
We had all thought that the election of Governor Attah as the governor of Akwa Ibom State will lead all in the state to a better destiny and a unifying force. But we were dead wrong.
He wanted his son- in- law as his replacement. He shunned Eket Senatorial District during his tenure and hated our people with a passion.
Your leadership although far more than your imperfection, took Attah’s political philosophy dangerously a step forward.
Public office became family heir loons. Puppet Commissioners awarded contracts to your family members just to appease you. Successive Deputy Governors from Eket Senatorial District held office in trust for you the governor. Akpabio became a household name not only in the state but in the country at large.
If one did not dance to Akpabio’s tone, he would wind up in political hot water.
Your grab on power, rising sectarianism in political identities mired Akwa Ibom state. You used your office effectively and the resources of Eket Senatorial district to expand on Attah’s sectionalism and to care for your people. Fine. If that fitted your definition of politics- what you can do for your people. But your era as the governor of this state is over.
We say this however, mindful of the fact that your grab on political power on Annang Senatorial District is no longer short term but a staying power. However, we reject the brutal painful chapter of your eight years of turbulence and chaotic governance that left the state in disarray, murders, mayhem, arson, pitting brother against brother and other long running underserving headaches.
Udom Emmanuel’s government by contrast, has tasked itself to a return to a rule of law. The state is no longer Safe-Heavens for the lawless and unruly.
Udom Emmanuel’s second term in office will be judged by his record of accomplishments with the limited resources made available to him by the Buhari administration and not whether he was able to complete Akpabio’s unfinished political projects some of which were schemed to satisfy his political agenda.
We can stop bad things from happening by promoting values and practices that make them less likely to ever happen again.
Our cardinal virtue as a people and responsibility as a party is to unite to make Udom Emmanuel’s second term in office work for the good of Akwa Ibomites, our people; failing which, you may just count on the end of PDP party in Akwa Ibom State if your intention is to put up insurgent candidate for the party. That period is certainly over.
Dr. Oduok writes from Atlanta Georgia.