Second term bid not a 'do or die' contest, says Akpabio
Godswill Akpabio
GOVERNOR Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State said his second term bid for governorship position in the 2011 elections is not a “do or die affair” but a response to the clarion call from the people of the state.
The governor said his achievements in office since 2007, will make him the electorate preferred choice.
Akpabio, who has taken his campaigns to the local councils to seek the people's support for his re-elect bid, said it is also to sensitise eligible voters to register and obtain a voter's card.
He promised that 2011 elections in the state will be free, fair and devoid of killings, stressing that he is confident of winning the 2011 governorship election.
The governor, who spoke through his Commissioner for Housing and Urban Renewal and the chairman Godswill Akpabio Campaign Organisation, Mr. Emmanuel Enoidem, stated that Akwa Ibom will be peaceful before, during and after elections as each individual's vote will count.
On the killings witnessed in the state last year, Akpabio denied his administration's involvement in the act and other crimes.
He said: “I have 100 per cent chances of winning the 2011 election because my achievements are there to show. I have made history in the state and given it a new look. I've given free and compulsory education, free healthcare services, constructed the airport with the best runway, constructed the flyover to avoid congestion.
I've put in place human capital development project, constructed roads and given people the dividend of democracy.
“I've put in place over 3,000 inter-ministerial projects done by indigenes in the state. Over 1,000 members of the public have benefited from the state integrated farmers' scheme.”
Akpabio has also pledged to improve security in the state.
Represented by his Special Adviser on Political and Legislative Affairs, Mr. Jerry Akpan, at another forum, Akpabio insisted that 2011 elections in the state would be “one man one vote,” adding that the exercise will be devoid of violence.
Akpabio alongside with one Mr. Imoh Udoh, has been cleared by the PDP screening panel for the governorship primaries in the state.
The governor said his administration will this year focus on the empowerment of the people through small and medium scale programme, adding that N2 billion had been allocated for the scheme. He added that the government would also focus on industrialisation to generate employment for the people.