AKPABIO, NSIMA HAVE NO MORAL CREDENTIALS TO TALK ABOUT INDUSTRIALIZATION –APC STATESMAN

By Umoh-Obong Kingsley

A caucus member and elder statesman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom State, Elder Aniefiok Ekefre, has said that former governor of the state, Sen. Godswill Akpabio, and the APC governorship candidate, Obong Nsima Ekere, have no right whatsoever to talk about industrialization following their antecedents in the polity of the state.

Speaking during an interactive session on politics of the presidential campaign and expectation of the Akwa Ibom people on Planet 101.1FM on Friday, Elder Ekefre noted that Akpabio is self-serving and has no public standing to talk about the people because he is anti-people from day one.

He said that Akpabio has no moral credential to talk about industrialization because he lied and misled the people during his tenure. He painted PDP in a bad light and ran to APC, saying that there was a time everybody was talking about the Ibaka Deep Seaport and he promised to raise about 30 billion US Dollars to build the seaport. Today the seaport is not there and the consultancy money is wasted.

According to him “In terms of comparative analysis, I’ve been part and parcel of the Godswill Obot Akpabio administration. During his campaigns, he said he would build one industry in each of the 31 local government areas of the state but failed to do so throughout his eight years in office. Industry is not in the supermarket. You cannot go to a supermarket and pick up a factory. You need to create time, design, fabricate, send it to the fabricator and then establish it.”

Comparing the immediate past administration to the present administration in terms of infrastructure, Elder Ekefre said he has seen a lot of roads, industries commissioned which the Vice President of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, was a guest, ongoing projects including the multipurpose 21-storey building complex in Ibesikpo Asutan, and many others.

He further disclosed that the Udom-led administration has done very well so far compared to the former administration which set up the nonfunctional Ibom Tropicana, Four Point by Sheraton in Ikot Ekpene as well as the Uyo-Ikot Ekpene Road project awarded at the initiation sum of N28 billion and variation and later raised to N71 billion without a justifiable reason, yet nothing was done.

The APC Caucus member and community leader/activist further disclosed that the governorship candidate of APC and MD of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Nsima Ekere, was Chairman of the Akwa Ibom Investment Corporation (AKICORP), which was an engine room for industrialization of Akwa Ibom State, but presided over the privatization and transferred the University Energy to an outsider.

Speaking further, he said all the insecurity, anarchy and assassination in the state happened during the tenures of Godswill Akpabio who is the current leader of APC and the governorship candidate of APC who was a deputy governor of the state, and that they are coming back to reenact anarchy with their Warsaw saw war mantra.

He alleged that Akpabio was a key player of the insecurity experienced in the state during his 8 years tenure, and that his aim is to reintroduce the anarchy and deny people the chance to enjoy the peaceful atmosphere currently witnessed in the state.

“Akpabio has no moral credential to talk about productivity and service because he has been tested before. He has failed us and we don’t want to go back to that situation.”

Elder Ekefre explained that peace is a very important element and the foundation of everything which holds a very important component to a successful story of every church and community, and that so far, Akwa Ibom people have enjoyed peace in the state, and need no anarchy.

He said that party affiliation is secondary, but peace is key. “Governor Udom Emmanuel has been able to establish peace in the state. You can now move freely, stand safely by the roadside and sleep with two eyes closed without being molested, compared to the sad situation of the past administration.

“He has done extremely well. Insecurity is history in the state, and everybody in the state don’t want that to be disrupted. We don’t want anything connected to the dark history of Akwa Ibom State. You cannot play politics without peace. We want peace.”

He called on President Muhammadu Buhari to call Akpabio and Nsima Ekere to order because nobody has the monopoly of violence.

(c) 9jaecho.com

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