TENSION LOOMS IN IKOT EKPENE AS STAKEHOLDERS REJECT COMMISSIONER NOMINEE

There is likelihood of tension in Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area as stakeholders, elders and youth beat drums of war over the alleged re-nomination of the former Commissioner for Special Duties, Engr. Etido Inyang, as Commissioner Nominee from the area.
The people of the area accused the former Commissioner of insensitivity to his people, self-centeredness, arrogance, pride and unaccountable throughout his years as Commissioner from the area.
They cried that “the alleged consideration of Engr. Etido Inyang to continue as a Commissioner in your Government will be a decision most unfair, unkind, wicked and retrogressive to the good people of Ikot Ekpene,” stressing that he has not contributed anything to the growth of the people.
In petition, from concerned stakeholders, elders and youth under the aegis of Ikot Ekpene Peoples’ Coalition, signed by its Chairman and Secretary, Barrister Usoroh Usoroh and Hon. Daniel Umoh, addressed to Governor Udom Emmanuel, they said the alleged re-nomination of Engr. Inyang, would create nothing but fan the ember of disunity in the Local Government Area.
The petition alleged that “The people of Ikot Ekpene frowned at the recent sponsored online publication that described Engr. Etido Inyang as the only qualified man with “expertise”. The said publication is not only an insult to the people of Ikot Ekpene but a gross disrespect to the qualitative people of the area. Your Excellency, it is unbelievable and unthinkable that after spending nine good years in the Government of Chief Godswill Obot Akpabio and your Government, our son, Engr. Etido Inyang, wants to continue in your cabinet. It shows how greedy Engr. Etido Inyang is. Probably, he wants to collect gratuity and pension as a Commissioner.”
According to the petition, “It is on record that in the years our son, Engr. Etido Inyang, spent as Special Adviser on Technical Matters and as Commissioner for Special Duties, he has not touched any live; bought no car o motorcycle for anybody. Human empowerment from our son is a taboo. It is also on record that when former Commissioner for Works, Mr. Don Etim, was dropped, his Personal Assistant, Hon. Unyime Etim, was appointed a Transition Committee Chairman of Ikot Ekpene Local Government Council. Now that Hon. David Umana, a Personal Assistant to our son, Engr. Etido Inyang, as been made the current Transition Committee Chairman of Ikot Ekpene Local Government Council, Engr. Etido Inyang should refrain from his inordinate ambition. Your Excellency, we wish to bring to you notice the incessant consultations by our son, Engr. Etido Inyang, to the Akwa Ibom Consolidation Alliance (ACA), Mandate Preservation Group (MPG) and other socio-political groups n a bid to lobby for his return as Commissioner. Again, on this, we want to remind him that when Senator Godswill Akpabio brought him and made him a Special Adviser for eight years, he did not spend Kobo. And if he could betray such a benefactor, then he is a man that must NOT BE TRUST.”
“It is very true, his selfishness, greedy nature cannot guarantee the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) winning election in Ikot Ekpene where the likes of Chief Sunny Ibanga, Uyo Nathaniel and Comrade Joseph Umoren are steering the ship of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the area. So, Your Excellency, such decision, if at all you have any, would be suicidal and a political miscalculation on your part. Amayam Clan of Ikot Ekpene had never been given the benefit of Commissionership in the last and the present administration. Your Excellency, for a man who is not accountable, considering his role in the construction of the Administrative Block of the Ibom International Airport and Ibom Tropicana Complex, to till go around lobbying for the position of a Commissioner, shows the height of ingratitude to the people of Ikot Ekpene and by extension, the people of Akwa Ibom.”
“We kindly appeal to His Excellency to conduct a poll to ascertain these facts and you will be shocked to know that our man of ‘expertise’ is not on ground, not loved by any the people of the area because of his selfishness, pride and arrogance,” the petition stressed.
In concluding, the people of the area, through their petition, however, warned, “We, the good people of Ikot Ekpene, who are in total support of your PDP-led government, reject in totality the alleged nomination of Engr. Etido Inyang as Commissioner. Otherwise, it may be an inadvertent action that will threaten our collective success as a people and your campaign to instill in us the Dakkada spirit.”