Ibom Patriots Cannot Fool All Nigerians Same Time
By UbongAbasi Ise
One should wonder how logically correct it is for a group of persons with glaring partisanship background to wake up and arrogate themselves the rights to speak on behalf of the entire Akwa Ibom people on the outcome of the 2019 general elections without recourse to the consciousness of the electorates. On page 31 of The Nation Newspaper edition of Wednesday August 14, 2019, a group of individuals that called themselves Ibom Patriots claimed in paragraph 5 of a sponsored advertorial that they are the conscience of the state nay the nation. They would decorate with superlatives the very elections some Akwa Ibomites saw as the debasement of electoral system. They described the exercise as being the freest, fairest, transparent and widely celebrated. They wrote in paragraph 9 that the elections were accordingly won and lost, and that “APC was expected to exhibit the virtues of the true democrats by accepting the outcome and to congratulate the winners having witnessed that the electoral outcome represented the supreme will of the people.” So pathetic that these persons are so insensitive by neglecting the actual fact that the vast number of Akwa Ibom citizens saw the entire electoral exercise as “a victory for impunity, a victory for fraud and a victory for political desperation and indiscipline,” to borrow Itse Sagay’s terms.
Perhaps these Ibom Patriots people are not following the proceedings of the election petition tribunal. It is either they are bereft of single idea about the evidences heaped at the tribunals, or they are knowledgeable enough to the extent of discovering that judgments at the end of the hearings would not augur well for their paymasters, hence their counterfactual approach to preempt the decisions of the tribunals. It could also be that the signatories to the statement, Obong Bassey Inuaeyen and Barr. Usenobong Akpabio, might not have been going to the tribunals to hear firsthand the squalid situations that occurred during the 2019 electoral exercise. They probably are no witnesses to any petition. Instead of looking out for evidences as available at the tribunals, they are adopting ancient Anglo-Saxon jury system called ‘self-informing,’ basing their conclusion on mere opinions and assumptions of the PDP apologists in the state. If Ibom Patriots are truly patriots to Akwa Ibom project and not partisan, methink they would have maintained noble silence till the election petition tribunals come out with their judgments.
At paragraph 5 of their statement, the Ibom Patriots would sing praises of Mr. Mike Igini to high heavens. They stated their belief that he drove the entire electoral processes “faithfully without yielding to the pressures to circumvents or compromise the exercise or the expressed will of the people.” But they neglect the fact that it is on record the availability of evidences that cast aspersion on the integrity of Mike Igini, unless proven otherwise by the tribunal. For example, it is on record that during the hearing on the petition filed by Senator Godswill Akpabio against the declaration of Senator Chris Ekpeyong as the winner of February 23 Akwa Ibom North West senatorial election, a witness, Dr. William Olosunde, a lecturer in the University of Uyo, who served as the returning officer for Essien Udim local government area during the election, confessed before the tribunal that he did not make any cancellation on Essien Udim result (Exhibit P534) but noted that alterations were done after the result was taken out of INEC area office in Essien Udim to commission's state headquarters in Uyo on the orders of Mr. Mike Igini. He admitted that at Essien Udim, 61, 329 votes were polled by the All Progressives Congress, APC, while the PDP had 9,050 votes, adding that those results were not cancelled in the local government area by him until he was asked by Igini-led commission to effect cancellations at the INEC headquarters in Uyo. Still on Akpabio vs Ekpenyong’s case, a witness, Mr. Tiebet Joshua, an indigene of Abiakpo Ikot Abasi Inyang in Obot Akara local government area, said he was aware of the result sheet that had, after collation, 19, 632 of total votes cast, but was surprised to see 20,117 later written on the same document. He said if all the total number of votes from the 10 wards of the local government are summed up, the total number would not amount to 20,117. The witness further said the Returning Officer for Obot Akara local government area, Prof. Abang Elkana, following a phone discussion, had taken him to Uyo to meet Mr. Mike Igini, who turned out to be persuading him to append his signature on the result sheet that had 20,117 instead of 19,632 of the number of votes to avoid over-voting and cancellation of result in Obot Akara. The question is: if at the end of the court proceedings, Mr. Igini is found culpable, won’t Ibom Patriots and their co-travelers bury their heads in shame? In case they forget, history has its judgment too, it deals with facts, and not assumptions.
But who are the Ibom Patriots? Let’s scrutinize the characters of the persons behind the masquerade. Obong Bassey Inuayen is the chancellor of the group. And he has fizzled out in the politics of Akwa Ibom Northwest senatorial (Ikot Ekpene) district where the image of Senator Godswill Akpabio illuminates. Coming to the politics of Akwa Ibom State in general, Inuayen is using once innocuous socio-cultural group, the Ibom Patriots, to vent his anger and frustration in his senatorial district where the presence of Akpabio eclipsed his relevance. Won’t it surprise one that his opinion from his extended family could prove the fact that he is morally unfit to contest any election anywhere in the state? Let's not get too deep but but the summary is that Bassey Inuayen is not fit to judge how free or fair elections were, maybe he is begging for attention on the pages of newspapers. Obong Bassey Inuauyen had lost in all his attempts to represent his district in the Nigerian Senate. Instead of licking his festering wound, he is finding a dark corner to throw darts. He has fast become a political contractor, and so fawning Governor Udom Emmanuel is just for a political patronage or reward. Perhaps Inuayen has taken his usual position as being a political or portfolio farmer to assist Governor Udom Emmauel perfect his propaganda on banana plantation in Ini local government area. But this is not enough to make Inuayen a patriot. He should be bold enough to call himself a partisan citizen, and not a patriot.
Looking at Barr. Useneobong Akpabio, the Ibom Patriots secretary that co-signed the statement in the newspaper page. He is more of a socialite and not a patriot. Before now, he was busy going about decorating Udom Emmanuel at Uyo Club and at Golf Course for some lucre. It is not surprising to see him coming to the media to misrepresent the will of Akwa Ibom people just for his self-serving interest as vested in Udom Emmanuel of the PDP fame.
It is funny that Usenebong Akpabio, who could not secure PDP ticket to contest for Akwa Ibom Northeast (Uyo) Senatorial District seat in the just concluded elections, would get up to assess elections that took place across the state. Useneobong probably has no data at his disposal to appraise the conduct of the elections, that is why he join others to conclude that allegations by the APC are futile modus-operandi.
Usenobong should restrict himself to Uniuyo Alumni, Uyo Club, Golf course and other social arrangements, and desist from toying with the conscience of Akwa Ibom people.
To this end, Nigerians should ignore the comedy script written by Ibom Patriots. The duo of Bassey Inuaeyen and Usenobong Akpabio including their ilk- minded would only deceive and gobble up the reasoning of some Nigerians who are not aware of the facts on ground, and definitely they would deceive all, as far as evidences are available.
Yes! UbongAbasi Ise. For comment, please send SMS to 08189914601 | Email: ubongabasiise@gmail.com
©The Sensor Newspaper
Comments
Post a Comment