Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Chief Godswill Akpabio, is not nursing an ambition to become president or vice-president of the country in 2015, the state government has stated.

A statement signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, said there was no iota of truth in the allegations making the rounds in some quarters, describing them as an “invidious campaign of calumny and blackmail.”

The state government said the smear campaign, which had been on in the print, electronic and social media as well as internet and bulk SMS, was part of a conspiracy to misrepresent Akpabio and thereby cause tension in the polity.

“For the avoidance of doubt, we wish to state in clear and unambiguous terms that Governor Godswill Akpabio is not interested in, and is not nursing any presidential or vice-presidential ambition,” the statement said. It added that Akpabio had been known as “The Promise Keeper” because he was known to always keep his word and he had expressed it at several times that he had no presidential or vice-presidential ambition.

The statement called on the president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan; his wife, Patience; the Governors’ Forum; the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Nigerians to “discountenance the evil conspiracy and campaign of lies and falsehood.”