AKPABIO DARES IBIBIOS

  

Dr. Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State has disclosed that the Ibibios will lose their majority status in the political equation of the state in the next eight years.

Akpabio made this known in his country home in Ukana, Essien Udim Local government area last week when he played host to some stakeholders in Ammang politics.

The revelation was his reaction to the refusal of Mr. Umana Umana, a former SSG, to bow out of the governorship race in line with the decision of the national working committee of the PDP to cede the contest to only aspirants from Eket Senatorial District.

A source at the meeting who pleaded anonymity, quoted the governor as saying that he was already angered by the repeated boasts by the Ibibios over their status as the majority ethnic group in the state.
The governor, according to the source, maintained that the huge amount of money Umana and Albert made while in office had become a ready weapon used to fight him, vowing that in the next eight years, the names of Obong Victor Attah, Umana, Bassey Albert, among others would be deleted permanently from the list of political heavyweights in the state.
According to the source, Akpabio cited the example of the former governor of the state which he said has lost voice in the national caucus of the Peoples Democratic Party.

Akpabio said, “In less than seven months from today, I will leave my position as the governor of the state. But how do I want you my brothers and sisters, and even your children to remember me? I want my name to be boldly written in your hearts and the hearts of your children as the true Annang son who fought so hard to lift the Annangs from the position of the hopeless minority to the ethnic group that now parades the richest people in the state.

“I will cease to be the governor on May 29 2015, but I want all of you here to do everything possible to ensure that the battles I fought to carry the Annang nation on my back to the status of the majority was not in vain.

“I want all of you to become even more united than we have ever been known for except for Atuekong Don Etiebet who has made himself an outcast by standing with those who do not wish the Annangs well to fight all of us.

“You have seen that I, and in extension, the Annang ethnic group have been able to become a voice in the national caucus of the PDP, making final decisions about what happens in the political scene in the state. The only Ibibio son, my predecessor who had bragged about how he will use his status as a BOT member of the party to fight me, the party cannot come near where the caucus is taking major decisions affecting the state. It is Godswill Akpabio, your own son, an Annang man that will decide what happens in this state.”