Why Akwa Ibom APC is bitter with Akpabio

The Chairman of the Peoples Dem­ocratic Party, PDP, Akwa Ibom State Chapter, Obong Paul Ekpo has attribut­ed the bitterness nursed by leaders of All Pro­gressives Congress (APC ), in the state with Sena­tor Godswill Akpabio to their defeat in the gover­norship polls, just as he described the rumour of his alleged resignation as the antics of the oppo­sition party in the state.

Obong Ekpo made this remark while reacting to the recent press statement by the Akwa Ibom State Chap­ter of the party, purporting to rationalise why President Muhammadu Buhari must take Akpabio’s so-called blackmail challenge very seriously.
Ekpo explained that, it is ridiculous that the leaders of APC in the state, is still un­able to come to terms with its defeat at the April 11, 2015 Governorship polls by consistently resorting to cheap blackmail against the former governor, whose of­fence is that he mobilized his party to victory.

Obong Ekpo wondered why a press conference ad­dressed by the PDP caucus in the National Assembly, which bordered on some issues of national interest, and which Senator Akpa­bio happened to chair as the Minority Leader in the Senate, has been reduced to a personality attack on the distinguished Senator, as against his party which made its position clear on the matters arising there­from.

“It is also laughable that my purported resigna­tion is emanating from the APC camp. I have not re­signed my chairmanship of our great party as being peddled by the APC. May be my resignation letter is with them and I would want them to produce the purported letter of resigna­tion.” He stressed .

He therefore described the alarm raised by the APC state chapter as uncalled for, unnecessarily belliger­ent, and twisted hog-wash meant to instigate strife be­tween President Buhari and Senator Akpabio, which will not work.

Ekpo argued that, the APC can continue with their innuendoes and con­jectures on the 2015 Gov­ernorship elections which they lost, if they so desire, but that, all their propa­ganda will not influence the verdict of the tribunal nor win them elections in Akwa Ibom which remains a stronghold of the PDP.

Describing Senator Ak­pabio’s statement as very nationalistic and in sync with his status as a pan- Nigerian statesman, main­taining that, even President Buhari knows that, the con­duct of the PDP caucus led by Distinguished Senator Akpabio is line with inter­national best practices in any democracy expected of an opposition party.