What is Akpabio Worth in APC?
Former Senate Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio’s political weight and influence are currently being called to question with his recent defection to the ruling All Progressives Congress, writes Okon Bassey
When the news first filtered out that a former Senate Minority Leader and immediate past governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio had defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the people of Akwa Ibom had initially received it in disbelief. The Akwa Ibom chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the elders in the state had said it could not be true, because Akpabio never hinted at such an adventure let alone consulted them.
However, his formal declaration to the APC on Wednesday, August 8, 2018, appeared to have partially caused panic in the state. Many of the citizens, who were at the Ikot Ekpene township stadium, actually went there to see and also confirm the defection story of Senator Akpabio to the APC.
Akpabio came to political limelight, when he contested and won the governorship race in the state in 2007 and succeeded to do a second term in office in 2011. Although he had been a commissioner in the state for eight years, his emergence was not an easy task following a strong opposition by his predecessor, Obong Victor Attah, who would rather someone else.
But elders in the Eket and Uyo Senatorial Districts, prevailed on Obong Attah to allow Akpabio emerge as the governor of the state. Attah saw reasons and gave up the fight. On board now as the new governor, Akpabio, knowing that he had no godfather in the state following the experience of his emergence, had quickly built his own political empire across the state. And for the period he reigned, he was generally described as a generous giver.
The support given to him mostly from the Ibibios ethnic group culminated in many decisions he took to build the state and to produce Governor Udom Emmanuel as successor to the proponent of uncommon transformation of the state.
Since Emmanuel came on board, he had tried to ensure that his predecessor and benefactor, Akpaabio was not a victim of witch-hunt given his perceived misdeed as governor. The opposition APC had on many occasions demanded of Emmanuel to publish statements of accounts of the state left behind by the former governor, to which he allegedly declined each time he was faced with such requests.
Curiously, the relationship between Akpabio and Emmanuel started to grow bad last year, when Akpabio laboured to find fault in the administration of the state, including alleging that Emmanuel had abandoned some projects he initiated. Little did Emmanuel know that Akpabio was planning his exit from the PDP, and needed to justify his decision.
Thus, while announcing his decision to join APC, Akpabio started by saying he was first a nationalist.
“People are saying why APC? You need to know that I am a nationalist. In trouble times like this when a country is at war, all hands must be on deck to salvage the situation. This is a difficult time in Nigeria, when insurgents are attacking us from Bornu, all the way to Plateau, through Benue to Taraba, Adamawa and even up to Akwa Ibom. In a period of a national emergency, everybody should put hands together to support the government, to bring peace to the people”.
But reacting to Akpabio’s defection story, Emmanuel said he was not perturbed by his predecessor’s action. At a solidarity visit by local government chairmen from the 31 council areas of the state, vice chairmen and councillors, the governor noted that every person was entitled to exercise his fundamental human rights of free association.
“The political atmosphere is helping to deepen democratic governance and reinvent the consciousness of the PDP that every member would be proud of,” he said.
Since Akpabio’s defection, pressure groups have continued to pay loyalty to Emmanuel.
The State Chapter of PDP also appears not shaken by Akpabio’s defection. On the contrary, the party urged its faithful not to take Akpabio’s defection as serious, because of who he is, even as he has not attempted to remove his name from the party register in his ward, Ukana West 2 in Essien Udim
“For the few persons (all of whom were his personal staff, relatives or former employees) whom he showcased as co-defectors, their respective ward chairmen are charged to immediately delist them from our register”.
The party disclaimed the story that the entire members of the National and state assemblies were joining him, describing it as either a very expensive joke or an outright lie.
“The Speaker and other 24 members of the Akwa Ibom state House of Assembly are intact” he said, except two who defected with him, adding that the two members of the House of Representative, who defected with him, might have serious challenges returning in their constituencies.
The party also announced the resolve to commence legal action to activate the provision of section 68 of the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria (1999 as amended) as it relates to the erring legislators.
“Nigerians are watching keenly to see how the actions of the defectors will match their defection sermon. But did we hear Senator Akpabio well? When he mentioned Tropicana? We hereby demand that Senator Ben Bruce accept the challenge thrown by the former Senate Minority leader to either complete the Ibom Tropicana or give reasons why it could not be completed, in addition to why it took so long
Also, the leaders of the state, who spoke under the