By Akaninyene EKONG
Worried by the recent high-handedness of some attention seeking individuals, allegedly aspiring for the Esit Eket/Ibeno State Constituency seat in the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, stakeholders and concerned citizens of Esit Eket, under the aegis of Eket Senatorial District Vanguard, have sent a warning to perpetrators and sponsors of campaign of calumny against the amiable and performing incumbent assemblyman for the area, Dr Usoro Akpanusoh.
In a statement made available to newsmen by the group, the stakeholders said “It has come to our notice that some attention seeking individuals, whom we prefer to call bad-losers in Esit Eket, have gathered themselves together with the sole purpose of blackmailing the State Governor, Dr Usoro Akpanusoh and Elder Benji Udobia, tarnishing their images and setting them on a collision course. This will not work. As a matter of fact, we wish to advise them and their sponsors to rather engage themselves in a more productive venture.”
“We are equally aware of the many sponsored media pieces, one of which is ‘2019: Plot To Replace Usoro Akpanusoh Thickens, As Meeting Of Esit Eket PDP Stakeholders Holds At The Ewet Housing,’ published by Trail Reporters. The said piece tried to misinform public of a non-existing meeting at the Ewet Housing residence of Elder Benji Udobia, the Political Leader of Esit Eket,” the statement stressed.
“For purposes of emphasis and clarity, we would not have bothered ourselves over this but for the clear intention of these attention seekers, which is to set Governor Udom Emmanuel and Elder Benji Udobia on collision course with Dr Usoro Akpanusoh, a man that has truly made us proud through his representation and lawmaking.”
The statement further said Dr Akpanusoh “regards the media piece, and those previously sponsored, as infantile because if the attention seekers and their sponsors were adults with at least a sense of street intelligence, they will know that elective office, such as the seat of Esit Eket/Ibeno State Constituency, is beyond ‘tight jeans and T-Shirts.’ It is for serious minded people. It is for people with capacity. It is for people who have something to offer. And so far, Usoro Akpanusoh is the only person with such characteristic.”
The statement, therefore, cautioned the perpetrators and their sponsors, saying “Our youths should at all time refrain themselves from being used as tools of destabilization. They should stand in the side of justice, fairness, equity, progress and development.”
