Senator Akpabio
Former Senate Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio, on Wednesday in Abuja, said that the answer of the people of Akwa Ibom State would give to the lies, outright falsehood and sponsored violence by the state government against APC members, would be a resounding victory of the party at the polls in February, 2019.
Akpabio stated this while speaking with news men at the National Assembly, shortly after plenary.
A release from the media office of the Senator quoted him as saying: “My people will answer the PDP-led government in my state with a resounding victory over the PDP in February. I don’t know of your own states, but I know of my state.”
Akpabio, who was reacting to an allegation by Senator Bassey Albert that the state chapter of the APC was planning to disrupt elections in the state, challenged him to produce evidence of plans, saying: “What evidence has Senator Albert on the alleged plan by the APC to use Federal might to win or disrupt the February elections in Akwa Ibom State?”
The action of Akpan, he noted, “was simply the aggressor playing the role of the victim. I believe strongly that there is no evidence to prove such spurious allegation as raised by the PDP senator.”
“Since my defection to the APC in August, there have been massive movements from PDP to APC in the state. It was that spurious and unfounded allegation that I wanted to react to on the floor of the Senate, before I was interrupted,” Akpabio disclosed.
Speaking further, Akpabio noted: “I can tell you today that even though the government in Akwa Ibom State is PDP, the voters are 80 percent APC.
“It is actually the PDP that is causing insecurity in the state and not APC, because in the very recent past, a lot of government appointees had resigned from office, thereby, causing instability and fear in the government, hence the recent attacks on them.”
Akpabio listed the various attempts on the life of a former aide of the governor on Electoral Matter, Barrister Mfon, less than 24 hours after he granted an interview to ThisDay newspaper, where he revealed that over 200 of the governor’s aides would soon resign and join the APC.
He also made mention of attacks on his Ukana residence few days after his defection, attacks on the residence of the MD NDDC, Obong Nsima Ekere, a day after his emergence as the APC governorship candidate, not forgetting attacks on his former aide on Diaspora Matters, Mr Clement Ikpatt, for being critical of the Emmanuel-led administration. “All these attacks, he stated had been reported to the state police command and other security agencies and investigations are ongoing,” Akpabio said.
He called on his colleagues, in the National Assembly to use the platform for the betterment of Nigerians, saying: “Let us use the platform of the Senate to discuss national issues that would be beneficial to generality of Nigerians and not trivial things that you have no proof of. I believe strongly that it is not he, who reports to the police first that wins a case, but through the thorough and careful investigation of the matter by the police and other security operatives, that the truth would be unveiled.”
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