Our attention has been drawn to a baseless, needless, jaundiced and sponsored article written by one Michael Jackson, in his futile and failed attempts at defending his paymasters, Umana Okon Umana and Nsima Udo Ekere, for failing woefully to deliver the APC presidential candidate and President-Elect Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in their various senatorial districts, but shamelessly blamed Senator Godswill Akpabio for their failure.
For lack of what to say after their disgraceful outings, the duo had gone to town with a baseless accusation of anti- party activities against Senator Akpabio who toiled day and night to market the party and all its candidates to the electorate in his senatorial district and even beyond.
Pray, when Senator Akpabio was campaigning day and night, educating the electorate on how to locate and vote for the party and built bridges across party lines, what were they doing in their different districts? If they had put half of the efforts Akpabio did in his senatorial district, in their domains, the results, we believe, wouldn’t have been what they had. Instead, they were busy meeting and sponsoring oppositions within and without the APC against Akpabio in his district.
Suffice it to say that if Umana and Nsima had put in half of the effort they pumped into Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial District against Akpabio in their senatorial districts, they would have at least, won their wards and local governments, not a mere wining of their polling units, which they celebrated to high heavens as if they did something so spectacular that is worth commending.
If after delivering his unit, ward, local government area and senatorial district, these two paper weight politicians and their media urchins are now sponsoring articles in the media alleging anti-party activities by Akpabio, we think such anti-party activities should be appreciated and encouraged, not condemned or used as a platform to discredit a man who burnt the midnight candle for the success of his party and, by extension, its presidential candidate.
We would want Umana, who is the APC leader in the state as at today, to tell us how many times he came out to publicly mount the podium to campaign for the party and its candidates in the state.
We would also want Ekere, who heads one of the presidential campaign organisations in the state, to tell Nigerians how many political rallies his group organised in the state for the presidential candidate before the last election?
Rather than attribute their abysmal failure to themselves, they have shamelessly attributed their inability to deliver their candidates in their various districts to Senator Akpabio, purporting that they couldn’t have done better than Akpabio, because he was on the ballot, while they were not and since they were not the ones that nominated other candidates across the state, they had no obligations to campaign for them.
The million dollar question on this childish position, should then be, why didn’t they deliver Asiwaju in their districts since they were the ones that nominated him?
When they were busy encouraging Senator Ita Enang to keep destracting our governorship candidate in the court and by extension our party, what results were they expecting from the poll in their respective districts?
Akpabio, to the vast majority of Akwa Ibom people, is a well-loved and respected personality. His acceptance goes beyond money and party lines. He is one leader the people love and trust and would always stand by him.
Despite the anti-party activities of some APC stakeholders in the state, he won his senatorial district for the party with over 30 per cent of the votes cast at the presidential election, while Umana and Nsima could only muster a paltry seven per cent of the total votes cast for the presidential candidate of the party.
We also view as wild display of stupidity and irresponsibility on the writer and his sponsors, attempts to link the personal views of one Zion Umoh, on his preferred choice for the governorship as the position of Senator Akpabio, when Akpabio, shortly after receiving his Certificate of Return from INEC, on Tuesday, in a television interview widely transmitted, had called on the people of Akwa Ibom State to come out enmase and cast their votes for Obong Akanimo Udofia and all state House of Assembly candidates of the APC in the state.
If that call to the people is anti-party, we would like to applaud and encourage Senator Akpabio to continue with this anti-party posture of his, till all elective positions are won by the APC in Akwa Ibom State on Saturday, 18th.
Finally, we advise Umana and Nsima to, rather than fight their former boss and benefactor in a war which they can never win, channel their energy and genuine support for all the candidates of the party in their districts, than blame everybody but themselves for their self-inflicted defeat.
Akpabio is now a senator-elect of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He is not in contention for the ministerial position with any of the duo, which is now the bone of contention between them.
The sure bet for anyone of them to be considered for such appointment (which they believe could be achieved through sponsoring lies, falsehood and blackmail against Akpabio), is to ensure that Obong Akanimo Udofia wins the governorship election in their districts to complement the votes that would be delivered to Udofia and other candidates of the party from Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District.
Anything short of that…their guess is as good as ours.
SIGNED
Comrade Sampson Umana (President)
Hon Utibe Asuquo ( Gen Secretary).
Progressive Youth Organisation For Development And Sustainable Peace, Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State.
