… Let Him Face Governance
the Akwa Ibom State Chapter of the All Progressive Congress (APC) has expresses dissatisfaction over what it described as “continued serial acts of disrespect and assault on the Presidency even after issues arising from the disputed election have been decided in his favour by the Supreme Court.”
In a press release signed by its Publicity Secretary, Ita Awak, it said “In his latest show of disregard and attempt to undermine the authority of President Muhammadu Buhari, Mr Emmanuel directed his commissioner for information, Mr Aniekan Umanah, to grossly misrepresent the Presidency on the arrest of three people allegedly attempting to blackmail the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS). In a statement about the arrest, the DSS had stated matter-of-factly that the three men were arrested for a suspected criminal act of blackmail against its Director-General.”
“The statement did not link the three men to the President or a political party or politician. However, a publication in an Uyo-based unregistered newspaper known as Global Pilot which is sponsored by Udom Emmanuel falsely stated that the DSS had found that one of the three men was working for Mr Umana Okon Umana, governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last election. The said newspaper publication even falsely claimed that the alleged blackmail plot was sponsored by Umana in an attempt to get President Buhari to remove Udom Emmanuel from office.”
“It should be noted here that Udom Emmanuel or his administration is not a spokesman for the DSS, and therefore cannot issue a statement for the DSS or modify one issued by the security institution. The DSS statement did not mention President Buhari or Umana or his party, the APC. It is therefore preposterous and an unacceptable attempt to undermine President Buhari by linking his exalted office to the matter. It is unfortunate that Udom Emmanuel has continued with his acts of disrespect to the President, first displayed when he travelled with the President to Cameroon last year and breached all protocols to force himself between President Buhar and President Paul Biya for a photo session. Ever since Mr Emmanuel has continued to treat the Office of the President with levity.”
“In another instance, Udom Emmanuel addressed a crowd of his supporters during his thanksgiving service after the supreme court judgement in Uyo, making grievous allegations against the federal government to the effect that Mr President had ordered the transfer of security personnel out of Akwa Ibom State in preparation for a rerun of the governorship election.”
“Speaking on a live television, Emmanuel noted that because of these transfers, he has nothing to do with the new set of security personnel posted to his state. In another of such inflammatory fabrications, Mr Emmanuel alleged that the federal authorities were bent on seizing Akwa Ibom oil wealth and ‘hand them over to the Yoruba and Fulani hegemony’, a thinly veiled allusion to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar who were strong supporters of our campaign during the election. Again, he said this on live television to a crowd of supporters during the 28th anniversary of the creation of the state on 23rd September last year.”
“In yet another of his wild and venomous fabrications, Udom Emmanuel went personal and publicly insulted Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, the National Chairman of our great party, when he stated in a rally in Port Harcourt during Gov. Nyesom Wike’s thanksgiving after the Supreme Court judgement that ‘certain old men who suffer from arthritis and should have been long gone have been boasting that they would capture Akwa Ibom and Rivers State’. We recall with pride that Chief Oyegun had stated in a newspaper interview that if fresh elections were ordered in these two states, the APC would win. But it is shocking and disheartening that Udom Emmanuel would respond to such innocuous words with personal insults and denigrations. Udom’s response was actually a death wish to our national chairman strikingly similar to what his predecessor, Chief Godswill Akpabio, and Gov. Ayo Fayose said of President Buhari during the 2015 campaigns that the then APC presidential candidate was too old and would die soon.”
“The Global Pilot newspaper and others sponsored by Udom Emmanuel have also levelled several other lies and fabrications against Mr Umana Okon Umana and his wife and family. We believe that these scurrilous attacks are diversionary attempts by Udom Emmanuel to cover the crisis of expectation that is engulfing him. The evidence is that Akwa Ibom people have yet to taste the benefits of good governance under Udom Emmanuel. Mr Emmanuel owes arrears of salaries and pensions. The central labour union, NLC, has issued a 21-day ultimatum to the state government for not meeting obligations, yet he earns over N12 billion from FAAC and IGR monthly according to published figures from the Federal Ministry of Finance. A massive labour crisis looms. He has not also delivered on the industrialisation he promised the state. The state is still divided under Udom Emmanuel as it was under Akpabio.”
“It is time for Udom Emmanuel to stop these attacks and insults, and face the task of governance. Propaganda will not deliver the good life to Akwa Ibom people. He should face up to the demands of the office of governor by addressing himself to the task of ameliorating biting hunger in the state, mass unemployment and lack of opportunities for self-actualisation for the youth.”
