Attacks On Akpabio Are Manifestations Of Ethnicity

Attacks On Akpabio Are Manifestations Of Ethnicity – Chris Akpan

Dr. Chris Akpan is the Director General of Godswill Akpabio Campaign Organization, GACO, and a prominent Akwa Ibom son who had served the state as the Commissioner for Rural Development during Victor Attah’s administration. In this interview with UBONGABASI ISE, he talks about controversies surrounding Senator Godswill Akpabio’s senatorial ambition and forces of ethnicity that worked against Akpabio’s ministerial nomination, Excerpt:

After 2019 senatorial election, it is Christmas Ekpeyong that is in the Senate, and not Senator Godswill Akpabio. Could you tell the mood of the people of Ikot Ekpene senatorial district about this outcome?

Thank you very much. In the evening of 23rd of February, 2019 when we had the national assembly and presidential elections, as the results started trickling in, it was very clear, after the votes were added at Ikot Ekpene where the results of the senatorial district ought to be announced, it was very clear that Godswill Akpabio won. In spite of the numerous intrigues funded by the state government in the nine other local government areas to make sure that Senator Akpabio's votes were either reduced or cancelled, it was clear by the evening of that election that Godswill Akpabio won. The Resident Electoral Commissioner of Akwa Ibom State nearly ordered that announcement should not be made, and that everything should be brought to Uyo. And the Returning Officer left Ikot Ekpene to Uyo. From then, what we heard from Uyo the following day was something else: that Senator Akpabio did not score over 61,000 votes in Essien Udim and what he was given in Uyo was about 6,000 votes. And on the account of that, Christopher Ekpenyong had won the election. You could now feel the mood of the people in Ikot Ekpene after that announcement was made. People were bitter and very unhappy with that absurd situation. In fairness to the Senator himself, he was the one who restrained people from going violent or expressing anger in a violent manner. Senator Akpabio assured the people that the avenue for seeking a redress when such things happen would be the tribunal. And we now decided to challenge this heist, this robbery at the tribunal. As you can see at the tribunal, a lot of evil deeds of Mike Igini have been exposed, and we have seen clearly that Mike Igini is a hypocrite. He was shouting himself hoarse, presenting himself sanctimoniously as incorruptible. But the election that he did and announced was tainted with corruption. We have no doubt at all that our approach to tribunal will avail Senator Godswill Akpabio of the victory he got, and snatched from him.

At national assembly election tribunal, whenever the case of Senator Godswill Akpabio vs Senator Chris Ekpeyong is called, one would see large number of people thronging the venue to hear the proceedings. What could been a major drive behind this large turnout?

First and foremost you must appreciate that Senator Akpabio loves the people of this state, especially, people of Ikot Ekpene senatorial district, and the people in turn trust and believe in him. Now when that contrived setback came about, people were not happy. People now said let us go to the tribunal and hear what could have caused that kind of upset. So people coming to the place is in line with this thinking that they must know what could have robbed Senator Akpabio in spite of the fact that everybody in the senatorial district expected him to win, and not only winning, but to win very easily. So that heist, that robbery was not very much to the liking of our people, and people have sworn to follow it up to ensure justice is done. That is why you see the interest, that is, people trooping in en masse. You could see anytime Senator Akpabio is there, it usually takes the police hectic time to restrict people and to allow free-flow of traffic. So that explains a politician that is well-admired, well-loved, and trusted by his people. They believe that if he is sent to anywhere, their interest is protected. They would expect the dividends of democracy as far as Godswill Akpabio is concerned.

You were one of the witnesses at the tribunal...

(Cuts in) ... Yes, I was

...and you served in the election as a ward collation agent for the All Progressives Congress (in Ikpe Annang ward, Essien Udim local government area)

... (Cuts in) yes

And there is this particular claims that voter registers were not ticked, and that was why elections were nullified in your ward, including other wards and several other polling units in Essien Udim. Could you throw more light on what really happened on the election day?

After the fraud by Igini, in order to show some decency to the public, they had to go and invent issues, tactics and methods to cover up their tracks. They brought plain registers that were not ticked to the tribunal. They refused to bring the ones that were ticked, those that were used directly in the elections. Of course we told them clearly that those weren't the registers used on that day and that the ones used that day were ticked and people were properly cleared to vote. We asked them to go and bring those ones, and they couldn't because they know if they bring those ones, it would have been clear that APC won everywhere in my ward.

The respondents in the case did not call close to the total number of witnesses they tendered before the tribunal, and even INEC in particular, did not bring any witness. Is there any hidden reason behind this?

The Resident Electoral Commissioner coerced and forced a lot of people to do things that were unlawful. And many of these people know the implications of committing perjury. A lot of witnesses they thought they would bribe to come out, developed cold feet because of the intense questioning and probing by our lawyers. Many of them who had experience ran away. You could see that even in their last outing when they closed their case, INEC did not bring one single witness. They relied on the witnesses that others had brought. That clearly shows you that what they did was a heist. And people have woken up to the fact that you don't rob Peter to pay Paul. What they did to Senator Akpabio was unfair and unjust and a lot of people have regretted being a part of the fraud. So we expect them to fail, and we expect Igini at the end of the exercise to be exposed as a thoroughly corrupt and a tainted electoral officer that should not be allowed to continue in Nigerian public electoral system.

What do you feel is the expectation of the majority of constituents of Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District on the outcome of the tribunal?

Well, let me not preempt the tribunal, but there is no doubt at all that we expect to win. Even the preponderance of the evidences we brought to the tribunal shows that Senator Godswill Akpabio was robbed, defrauded, and Mr. Mike Igini, after he might have been induced by PDP, had taken sides openly and brazenly. So we expect, at the end of the tribunal, for the senator to continue to work for the upliftment of the senatorial district. In his last outing in the Senate, you are aware of the number of interventionist projects that came to Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District, something that we have never seen before as far as senate representation in that district is concerned. He brought numerous interventionist projects even to outside the senatorial district. As you are aware, as the Senate minority leader in last senate, he used his office to ensure that Akwa Ibom benefited enormously from federal interventions: highly sophisticated hospital equipments worth over N3 billion were brought into this state, and these equipments are there. And we ran around to see them, including ambulances many hospitals never had. So who could have preferred neophytes to men who had been tested and found to be completely worthy of the confidence of the people of the senatorial district? Let us hope that Senator Akpabio, one way or the other, will influence this current senate for the state to have continuous federal government patronage. If you are not in the system, of course, you cannot bring something home. So people must be integrated into the current federal government to ensure that what is due to our people is given to them.

Still on tribunal sir. Looking at the synergy and the good relationship displayed by the counsels to the respondents, does this send out any message?

Well, of course, we have found one of the lawyers, I won't mention any name, whenever he is cornered, he is found throwing up tantrums and behaving abnormally. But apart from that, law is a very noble profession, and they claim to be learned. And we expect people who are learned to work well even under pressure. What is going on is what was expected. Let the fireworks be in the realm of ideas and facts and not physically. And that is how it should be.

Alright. Let's look at the representation of Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District at the moment, do you think it would have been different under Akpabio?

Certainly. If somebody, in his first outing, became the minority leader of the senate, even when he had people that had been there three to four times, shows you clearly how that person is rated nationally. So there is no way you can match what we have now and what we could have had if Senator Akpabio was there. There is no way it could have been the same. There is bound to be a very big difference. But we do hope that he would gather the clouts and the national influence he has to be able to see how we can still benefit from the government by way of projects, by way of patronage and interventionist actions in many of the challenges that we have in the senatorial district.

Senator Akpabio has just been nominated as the minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by President Muhammadu Buhari. Can you tell if there is any secret politics behind the nomination?

Of course there has to be politics because it is a political appointment. Well, in the first place, the office of the minister, given the Nigerian structure, is a very important office. And some ministries sometimes have budgets that surpass so many states. So you cannot say the office of a minister is something to trifle with. Of course you will see the opposition in Akwa Ibom State getting into overdrive to ensure that Senator Akpabio was not nominated a minister. They brought out malicious allegations, slanders, and innuendoes were contrived; petitions were forwarded to the presidency; so many things were done to stop him from going there. They knew that, being the kind of man he is, he is going to make a difference. Godswill Akpabio as a minister, certainly will make a difference. And of course, the powers that be in Akwa Ibom were not expected to be laying back; you could see the venomous attitude of the government. But in Bayelsa State, when (Timipre) Slyvia was announced by the President as a minister, in spite of numerous issues between himself and Seriake Dickson, Dickson graciously thanked the President and congratulated Sylvia even when he (Sylvia) is an APC member. He swore to cooperate with him to ensure that they work together to get the best for Bayelsa State. Here, nobody in government has come to acknowledge this (Akpabio’s) appointment. Our attitude to politics is vicious, evil, and totally filled with venom. And the kinds of men that troop in to be in government today are totally not the kind of men we used to have in the past. Victor Attah ran a government that was not venomous; Obong Akpan Isemin was here as governor of this state and every segment of this state felt that he was a good person. He did not discriminate. He did not talk down people; he did not jump into tantrums, condemning people. But what we have now is a reverse. It is a very unfortunate situation for Akwa Ibom State. Many actions of government officials at the topmost level of the state are very insensitive, selfish and totally lacking in compassion and respect for Akwa Ibom people. And we cannot get the best from Nigeria if we continue to behave like crabs in the basket where one will try to pull down the other as it tries to climb. And at the end, none of them will go out to freedom. That is what is happening here. And it is a very corrosive development. We never had it so bad.

Now Akpabio is a minister, but if the ruling of the tribunal goes to his favours, don't you think there will be a sort of dilemma in terms of choice?

Well, Senator Godswill Akpabio will not seat down alone and decide. Senator Akpabio had the mandate of APC. He did not contest as a private citizen. He stood on the platform of the party. So everybody will sit at the roundtable, that is, if he wins; it is hypothetical. We will sit down at the roundtable and decide on what to do to ensure that Akwa Ibom State benefits best from the current system that we have. It is not going to be a personal decision. It's going to be collective, and this will be very carefully thought out.

Let's look at the allegations brought before the ICPC prior to his nomination in which he was accused of diverting constituency projects to private use. I would love you to beam more light on this issue as an insider.

It just has to do with what I had already said, that people sometimes hate and over-hate. What was at play was not that anything was diverted. What was at play was contriving of fictitious issues to make sure Godswill lose out in the competition to be considered for minister because of those projects they claimed he diverted. As a result of their petitions, several teams arrived with their inventories to see actually, if their claims were right. You can see somebody in Akwa Ibom going to the ICPC to report that something is missing while they did not even see the inventory of what was supposed to be supplied, and what had constrained the contractor not to supply them. They went to town to please their paymasters and made pronouncements that they had to swallow at the end. They had to eat the humble pie. Now the team came, and I went with them everywhere and outside Ikot Ekpene senatorial district. The hospital digital equipments, the interventionist projects, spread across the three senatorial districts. A boundary hospital in Utit Obio, Ibiono, had equipments supplied that completely overwhelmed the hospital: sophisticated diagnostic equipments, incubators, about 50 beds, which the hospital has no much capacity for, and so many other things. Utit Obio alone had the equipments that they (the team) couldn't imagine the cost. There was another interventionist project in Udung Uko where Akpabio was building school blocks, providing the school with solar water system, street lights and so on. Those were the things they claimed he did not do. The team, which came from Abuja, saw everything in place. They were very satisfied given the level of funding with what was on ground. We left there and went to a hospital in Onna. When we got there, they had tipped sand on the entrance so that those people would not enter to inspect and check the inventory of what was supposed to be supplied. The soldiers took them in across that sand and they went and see that all those things that supposed to be ordered were there. Then we came down to Comprehensive Health Centre, Ukana. What was supplied was much more than what was given because of Godswill Akpabio's influence in

the place. The inventory had one generator, but by the time we went there, there was three generators - brand new 15KVAs. They approved one incubator, but by the time we got there, there were many incubators, much more than we expected; the same thing with the dialysis machine. And these are very expensive equipments most hospitals don't have. We left and addressed a crowded press conference in Ikot Ekpene, and the team was asked if they were satisfied with what they came to see. They said they are more than satisfied and added that the petition had no basis in truth and in facts. It was a mere fabrication by the people with evil intent to undo, undermine and to stall Godswill Akpabio's consideration in the race for the ministerial office. And of course you know that those issues were ignored by the President having gotten the reports that all the petitions submitted were all lies. When the President nominated this man of charisma as a minister, you could see the joy in the whole of Akwa Ibom State after that appointment was announced. They are happy because they know that Senator Godswill Akpabio is going to create impact, and make a great difference given his antecedents.

Is there no concern that a lawmaker who is representing a particular senatorial district would take projects outside his domain to other districts?

Well, the simple truth is that Akpabio does not see himself as a local politician. Having been a governor of the state, if he goes in and try to intervene and the federal government magnanimously give him what he asked for and what he asked for become more than the capacity of one senatorial district, then what sense does it make for you not to spread those things to other parts of the state? Senator Godswill Akpabio sees the state as his constituency. He ran this state, as it would be recalled, fairly and equitably and not the kind of things we see today. That is why he thought that other people in other parts of the state are also his own people. And I think every politician should learn to be large-hearted enough, generous enough, to ensure that people deserve their attention irrespective of whether they are close to them or not. That is the spirit.

Concerning the problem at Onna hospital, could this point to the fact that there is a bad blood between the state governor and Senator Akpabio which could have sparked that demonstration?

Well, the whole essence, I think, was for the lie that these things were not done to be sustained with the view to stopping Senator Godswill Akpabio from being considered for minister. On issue about himself and the state governor, I am not privy to any beef between them. But I do know clearly that Senator Akpabio continue to see this government as his own, and if the government has any reason not to see Godswill Akpabio as their patron, that is left for them to say. But Akwa Ibom State will be better off with people united in love and empathy than the kind of things we experience lately.

Senator Akpabio has been a commissioner, a governor, a senator and now a minister...

(Cuts in)... And nobody in Akwa Ibom State has such record

... don’t you think he deserve adequate respect in the state than criticisms trailing him as you noted?

Well, the whole issue boils down to ethnicity. Some sections of the state have inordinate sense of entitlement. They believe they own the state. And so people like Senator Godswill Akpabio, even when they made tremendous difference, has still been considered like ‘why should he come from the minority and be part of what is going on?’ That is the total logic behind what is going on. But I think we are better off. You could see that the Ijaws, wherever they are, consider themselves the Ijaws. Even a small spattering of Ijaw people in Akwa Ibom State in places like Ibeno, Eastern Obolo and so on, the Ijaw nationalists still consider them as part of their people. But in Akwa Ibom State, the majority would want to ensure that the minorities are excluded. They are playing politics of exclusion which will not lead us to anywhere. I am an Annang man, I don't feel inferior to any other person. I believe I am as much as an Akwa Ibomite as anybody else. And Godswill has the same thinking. Here everything will be done to keep you in your lane. But they don't bring the same attitude out when we are fighting at the national level. The struggle to be majority and superior ends at Akwa Ibom; they don't take it to Abuja in order to bring things for Akwa Ibom State. That's why I condemn such attitude. Every indigene is an equal stakeholder in Akwa Ibom project.

Ethnicity seems to be one factor that shapes the character of Nigeria's politics. Now shifting the focus to Akwa Ibom, how could leadership manage the question of ethnicity?

If someone walks in and says, it's not there, he is telling a lie. It is very much there and it has always been there. But it is very pronounced in the current government. And I think that the government will do well to step down the tone of ethnicity in its activities. Akwa Ibom State is going to be developed by Akwa Ibomites. There are many places that are more diverse than ours, but they stick to the belief that it is their duty to develop their place. I expect, and I want to implore all the positions of authority to consider the state as one. The moment you leave Akwa Ibom State to outside, nobody knows you as an Ibibio, Annang, or Eket man. All of us are seen as Calabar men. So we must work as one to ensure that we develop this state evenly to the admiration of other parts of Nigeria because no matter how much you would explain that you are from Nsit Ubium or that you are from Abak, or that you are from Ukanafun, or that you are from Okobo or Urue Offong/Oruko, somebody outside the state won't understand what you are talking about, but they will know you as a Calabar man or an Akwa Ibom man. And that identity is what we should develop on and ensure that we love ourselves, and also ensure that people are patronized evenly. So much is going on by way of discrimination and by way of exclusion which should not be here in the first place.

Looking back at the period Senator Akpabio was experiencing what you would call a setback, what striking thing do you observe?

Someone like me, who knows Senator Akpabio well; I’m from the same place with him; my village and Senator Godswill Akpabio's village are barely 1km apart. I know him right from his youth. I know clearly that he will overcome. Godswill has a mark of favour from God, and God has blessed him. Any man that tries to bring him down, it is not going to work, rather, we should harness the good character, the charisma of this young man, the national exposure of this man, and embrace it for the benefit of development for Akwa Ibom State. Envy, pettiness, and all manner of evils will not take us anywhere. My thinking is that Godswill will continue to rise and shine because he has the large heart. Besides, people trust him. He has empathy, and has helped out so many people.

If you were to be Senator Godswill Akpabio himself, what lesson would you have learnt about the whole occurrence?

First lesson is that you must expect betrayals. Human beings betray. Human beings are like fleas and ticks. When a cow is alive, ticks would infest it, feast on the blood, enjoy it while it is alive. Once the cow drops dead those ticks would migrate to another cow and abandon it. But I know that all efforts to bring down Senator Godswill Akpabio and make him look like nothing before people would fail. There is no way you can shine a lantern and cover it with a sponge or something. Senator Akpabio is a man that is well-loved by the generality of Nigerians. Even the pressure for him to be minister was more outside the state: Northern youths, South-south youths and so on knowing that Senator Akpabio, wherever he is placed in government, they will see whatever benefits, unlike other people who would take whatever is there for the benefits of their families only. So what I learned in this course of event is that we should be steadfast with God. As long as what you do is good and many people loves you, you must triumph. And that is why till today, Godswill triumph. Even the so-called men of God, the spiritual fathers, ganged up; many of them have benefitted from Godswill Akpabio, many of them were sent abroad. But the moment they saw that Godswill Akpabio was down, and was not there again, they all drifted to government, they enjoy heavy perks and were even praying and cursing Godswill Akpabio. Of course by what has happened today, we have all seen that they are not men of God, they are prophets of Baal. They should bow their heads to shame because God cannot desert his own.

Based on his experience, don't you think that Senator Godswill Akpabio may review his relationship with some persons in the state?

Senator Akpabio I know is a very large-hearted person. And he has absolutely no capacity to hate. Even while he was considered a pariah, some of them still slipped out at night to visit him for one help or the other, and he obliged many of them. So Godswill Akpabio has absolutely no capacity to hate. All those who hurt him in one way or the other can go to him today and still be given sufficient attention as it used to be. So nobody should be afraid. Senator Akpabio is large-hearted, sincere and fair, and absolutely has no capacity to hate anybody.

When Senator was on the floors of the senate recently, those in opposition party, especially those from Akwa Ibom, raised point of order, but Senate President denied them opportunity. So as an insider who knows all that is happening around the nomination of Senator Akpabio, was the situation emanated from an agenda that has not come to the public understanding?

Well you heard what the Senate minority leader, Senator Aberibe, said. He said he had consulted Akwa Ibom caucus, and they were all in agreement. If you had listened to Senator Bassey Akpan's explanation later, he said clearly that he was out to tell Senator Godswill Akpabio to reconcile and take everybody as the same given the fierce contest and fierce political development that occurred, and I tend to believe him. So my thinking is that it would have been foolhardy for any Akwa Ibomite to go there and try to throw spanner at the work. I'm tempted to believe and to give senator Akpan the benefit of doubts. I believe he might have wanted to intervene positively, but given what I have been telling you about, people tried to read meanings as if he tried to intervene on a negative. So I believe he might have been out to call for reconciliation because we are better off today.

Even Senator Chris Ekpeyong also raised his hand, did it look like he was trying to say the same thing as Akpan?

I suspect so. Chris Ekpeyong is an experienced politician, and he would not have gotten to the floor of the Senate to try to disparage his brother and friend, no. I'm sure all of them meant well, but the problem is they were not given opportunity to express themselves.

Let's look at your party, the APC, is the future bright or is there any panic somewhere?

We have a lot of works to do to make people think of APC and to integrate the people in true sense of the word. You know that the party is not like the PDP that is coherent and homogeneous from inception. APC is made up of people who migrated from PDP, and people from other splinter parties. So it is going to take a lot of works for us to be integrated in the party and make people think collectively and move on in unison. I have no doubt that the future belongs to the APC. Even our outing in the last election, if we had put our acts right, the entire masses of this state was with the APC. It was just government apparatus, government money and wherewithal that took the victory from us. But having learned so much in the last outing, if we really put the knowledge we acquired then, and gather them into practice, I have no doubt at all that we would be able to translate them, then the future belongs to the APC.

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