UbongAbasi Ise

By UbongAbasi Ise The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has yesterday issued certificates of return in Abuja to all three candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, that were declared winners in the just concluded rerun elections in Essien Udim local government area, Akwa Ibom State. They include Senator Chris Ekpenyong, lawmaker elected to represent Akwa Ibom North-West(Ikot Ekpene) Senatorial District; Atuekong Nsikak Ekong, member-elect for Ikot Ekpene/Essien Udim/Obot Akara Federal Constituency; and Barr. Esse Umoh, elected-member to represent Essien Udim State Constituency in the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly. In the full results declared on Sunday by the INEC, Senator Chris Ekpenyong of the PDP polled the total of 134,717 votes to emerge winner ahead of the former candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Godswill Akpabio who had earlier in December announced his withdrawal from the race, but 83,820 votes were tied to his na...

By UbongAbasi Ise Essien Udim local government area in Akwa Ibom State has become a spot where the flames of 2019 general elections have refused to die down. It has become a constituency that is helplessly vulnerable to cynical manipulation by anti-democratic devils that work tirelessly to guarantee "a victory for impunity, a victory for fraud and a victory for a political desperation and indiscipline," to say in the words of Prof. Itse Sagay. After INEC declared Barr. Esse Umoh, a PDP candidate, as elected with 18,999 votes ahead of Sir Nse Ntuen who had earlier stated his disregard for the Saturday 25th January 2020 rerun election having described it as an illegal exercise but helplessly had 7,108 APC votes tied to his name, one does not need a soothsayer to foretell that Essien Udim State Constituency would soon be welcoming another buffet of political intrigues. Following March 9, 2019 polls, it was INEC returning officer for Essien Udim, Prof. Ignatius Uduk that...

By UbongAbasi Ise The All Progressives Congress, APC, in Akwa Ibom State has decided not to participate in any election conducted by Barr. Mike Igini,  the present Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, in the state.  The APC state chairman, Mr. Ini Okopido, while addressing a press conference in Uyo yesterday to announce the official withdrawal of his party from today's rerun elections in Essien Udim local government area, expressed lack of confidence in  the conduct of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC,  represented by Barr. Igini in the state. "Let me let you know that the decision of INEC as represented by the resident electoral commissioner in Akwa Ibom state is unacceptable to the APC family in particular. We have communicated this to the national headquarters of our party. "Igini has shown unprecedented bias in his conduct as a resident electoral commissioner in Akwa Ibom State and if he conducts any election again in Akwa Ibom Stat...

By UbongAbasi Ise Saturday 25 th  January 2020 will be another milestone in Essien Udim local government area’s political narrative as the electorates would once again queue up at their respective polling units to cast their votes for their preferred candidates in a court ordered rerun for Akwa Ibom Northwest Senatorial district, Ikot Ekpene/Essien Udim/Obot Akara federal constituency and Essien Udim State constituency elections.                 Tension has peaked considerably in the build-up to the rerun as the All Progressives Congress, APC, and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, had since picked up the gauntlet to go into the battle of supremacy and to settle the 2019 general elections’ scores. Already the rerun elections have been characterized by byzantine complexities after Senator Godswill Akpabio of APC announced his withdrawal from the senatorial race in order to concentrate on national a...

By UbongAbasi Ise Some individuals known to be launching smear campaigns against the minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, may not be lucky next time as the minister says enough is enough. In the press statement signed and released to the media by Mr. Anietie Ekong, the Chief Press Secretary to the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, overt warning was sent to those planning attack on Senator Akpabio in the media and seeking to heat up the polity as the result of his withdrawal from the rerun of Akwa Ibom Northwest Senatorial election that would take place on January 25, 2020. “Having withdrawn from the contest to face higher national responsibilities, we caution political jobbers to desist forthwith from their planned smear campaigns against Senator Akpabio and unnecessarily heating up the polity. “The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Akpabio will have no choice than to invoke the full weight of the law against anyone who engages in any plot...

By UbongAbasi Ise I write this piece with deep conscience: one, because I am a concerned citizen of Akwa Ibom State who takes pride in the state’s splendor, while feeling every detail of shame in its squalor; two, because it is my own fancy that my generation can bequeath enduring legacies to the posterity. I also have sincere belief that every government dispensation must work and outshine its predecessor to show the imprints of progress, and to leave a big statement for our future. Hence, I found it necessary to write my concerns down. Looking at the life of Akwa Ibom State in the last decade, that is, from 1st January 2010 to 1st January 2020, a keen observer would find out that the state is governed five years each by His Excellencies, Godswill Akpabio and Udom Emmanuel. In the first five years under Akpabio (2010 to 2015), Akwa Ibom was at the peak of both infrastructural and human capacity development. In the next five years under Udom, the state experienced a dip in i...

Dr. Uwem Akpan, a lecturer in the Department of History and International Studies in the University of Uyo, appears to be a man that would not waver under any form of pressure. His recent publication, Ikono The Cradle of Ibibio Nation: A Refutation, has been the subject of controversies and has pitched him against the monarchs and elites from Ikono and Ini local government areas who appear to side with  Dr. David Ukpong, Dr. Martin Akpan and Nnamso Akang, the authors of a refuted  book entitled,  Ikono The Cradle Of Ibibio Nation (Historical Origin and Cultural Heritage) published in 2001. In this interview with UBONGABASI ISE,  The Sensor Newspaper's correspondent, Dr. Uwem Akpan talks about his face-off with his opponents and wonder why they are not confronting him in the realm of intellectuality instead of condescending to what he called diabolical means. EXCERPT: The book you published on December 9, 2019 has generated a lot of controversies. How do you co...

By UbongAbasi Ise The Chairman of Trinity Group of Companies, Arc. (Obongunwana) Ubokutom Nyah, has remarked on the popularity one of the organization’s subsidiaries,  The Sensor Newspaper,  has gained in recent times. While speaking during 2020 Annual Staff New Year Service organized by Trinity Group in Uyo yesterday, Arc. Nyah confessed that his personality has now been identified with  The Sensor Newspaper  even more than his profession. He recounted how the Minister of the Niger-Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio aptly referred to him at social events as “Sensor” instead of “Architect” or “Ubokutom” he usually called him, a remark that threw the audience into amusement. The Chairman of the Group further commended the longest surviving print media outfit in Akwa Ibom State for its research prowess, professionalism and ability to stand tall in the face of competition. “I don’t know if there is any newspaper that could compete with  The Senso...