Politico Politico News
A group in the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom, the Akwa Ibom Democratic Forum (ADF) says that Senator Godswill Akpabio remains the authentic leader of the chapter.
Recall that some party leaders who attended a meeting recently organised by Group Capt. Sam Ewang (rtd) endorsed Akpabio leader of the party in the state.
However, this did not go down well with the State Caretaker Committee led by Dr. Ita Uda who declared the stakeholder’s meeting ‘illegal’.
Speaking in a press statement, the Director-General of ADF Obongemem Ekperikpe Ekpo and Secretary-General Dr. Anthony Usoro, said it is unfortunate that people who attended the meeting and made inputs during the deliberation could make a volte face to castigate the convener, thereby giving the impression that he (convener) acted arbitrarily.
The statement reads: “This type of ‘tortoise politics’ which relies on wiles and dissembling is the reason our great party, the APC is still in the woods and lacking the ardour it mustered when debuted.”
The ADF regretted that Udosen’s committee acted at the behest of one of its members who “desperately wants to appropriate the reins of the party for selfish reasons.”
It recalled that Senator Akpabio was named and publicly declared the leader of the party in Akwa Ibom State on August 8, 2018 by a delegation of the APC national leadership then.
They further explained, “It is trite knowledge that governors are the leaders of their parties in their respective states. But where the party is not in control because it does not have a governor in place, its highest political office holder naturally becomes the leader of the party.
“Hence, in Bayelsa State, Timipre Sylva is undoubtedly the APC leader, while Rotimi Amaechi is the party leader in Rivers State because they are the highest political office holders in their respective states. But, in Akwa Ibom State, there seems to be an unbridled and inordinate quest to change the standard to satisfy some odious cravings.
“APC does not have a governor in Akwa Ibom State, having shot itself in the foot in the 2019 election through this same putrefying rancour and acrimony. The highest political office holder is the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, who is an influential member of the Federal Executive Council.
“The position of APC leader in the state naturally dovetails to Senator Godswill Akpabio as minister and member of the Federal Executive Council, as well as former performing governor who foisted a distinctive era in our dear state.”
The group added: “The muffled hullabaloo by a few desperate and vested interests that it should not be him is strange to sane ears and a shocking realisation that hate could replace even good and logical reason.
“As a political pressure/support group with undisguised interest in the APC, we are conscious of the fact that unless people subsume their interests and personal ambitions under the party, the hope of the party clinching power in 2023 is farfetched.”
Acccording to ADF, Akpabio has the competence, capacity and experience to lead the party to victory in the State in 2023
“To return the party footing of political vibrancy, we call on the party leadership in the state to urgently institute a process to reconcile all political actors and stakeholders, and bring them into one-fold with a new vision that would drive the dream of APC and position the party to take over power, come 2023.
