Build-Up To July 12, Akwa Ibom State Coffer Suffers Violence.
High fever, mental restiveness, nervousness, hypertensions, sleeplessness – call it insomnia, political dysmenorrhoea and haemorrhage are now the hallmark gripping the governor of the oil-rich Akwa Ibom State, Chief Godswill Obot Akpabio, his political bedfellows, foot soldiers and members of his cabinet over the fear that the July 12 judgement expected to be delivered by an Abuja High Court Judge, Justice Abdul Kafariti may not actually favour the sitting governor given the monumental evidence presented before the court by the plaintiff, Engr. Frank Okon.
In a bid to reverse this desperate scenario and ensure that he continues on to the sit of power till 2015, Akpabio is frittering away billions of Naira from the state's coffer just to ensure his grip to the Hilltop Mansion. Impeccable sources close to the Governors Office, Uyo said the governor used the just concluded conference of senators held in his home State,Akwa Ibom to his advantage by ditching out N10m to each delegate and senators of PDP stuck after a protracted special session arranged by the governor himself outside main business meetings, and strongly urged them to constitute a formidable panell that will meet and persuade Justice Kafarati to accept his monetary offer which would make him deliver judgement in Akpabio favour.
“It was a forum for Akpabio to put forward a strategy to upturn the for forthcoming July 12 judgement to his advantage. You know, he is very restless about the outcome of the judgement given the weight of the evidence brought forward by the Frank Okon's lawyers” the source explained.
It was reliably gathered from the source that the People's Democratic Party (PDP) national chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, and the Senate President, David Mark were made leaders of a special delegates billed to meet and convince Justice Kafarati. They were said to have been given huge sum of money heavier than what was given to all the other delegates; a sum Akpabio himself described as 'a parting gift.'
“I understand from the discussion that transpired that the Senate leader and the PDP chairman were made the leaders of the delegate to meet with the judge. A development which made Akpabio to heave a sigh of relief…. What baffles me is that workers in the state are yet to be paid the two months salary owed them by this administration but look at how Akpabio is wasting money for no just cause!” the source laments
Recent media report has it that: A People Democratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirant in the April 2011 elections in the state, Engr.
Frank Okon, had gone to court seeking the nullification of the election on ground that his exclusion from the party primaries held on January 15, 2011, which returned the governor as the party flag bearer, breached his fundamental human rights.
Although Mr. Okon said he was screened and cleared by the PDP to participate in the primaries initially held on January 9, 2011, he claimed he was excluded from the subsequent re-run fixed for January
15 after the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party cancelled the outcome of the of the exercise on January 14, 2011.
Besides, Mr. Okon also contested the governor's election on grounds that the PDP committed fraud on the result sheet submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) by forging the signature of its former National Chairman, Okwesilieze Nwodo, despite the fact that a court in Enugu had removed him from office more than
72 hours before the primaries.
By Asuquo Okon