The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom State, Obong Stephen Ntukekpo, has called on Governor Udom Emmanuel to apologise to the APC presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, over his response to the latter on a comment made during the party’s rally in the state.
Ntukekpo also said the APC candidate said nothing wrong about the governor during his visit to the state, adding that at no time did Tinubu insult Akwa Ibom people.
The state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Ini Ememobong, had in a statement recently berated Tinubu for calling the governor “a boy” and hurling what he described as “unwarranted, uncharitable and anachronistic” on the people of the state without provocation.
But Ntukekpo dismissed the commissioner’s position in a statement Sunday.
However, he maintained that Tinubu’s comment at the APC presidential rally in Uyo was an expose of Udom’s financial mismanagement and ‘Lilliputian’ performance as governor, adding that the people of the state demonstrated their love for the party and its candidates by the massive turnout at the rally.
“Asiwaju’s comment is not in any way a reference to the good people of Akwa Ibom State but an expose of Udom’s financial mismanagement and Lilliputian performance as Governor of Akwa Ibom by which measure calling him a ‘boy’ is even flattering.
“Rather than grandstanding, Governor Udom ought to issue an unreserved apology to Akwa Ibom people for the orgy of financial recklessness and plundering of our common patrimony through dubious schemes and white elephant projects,” he said.
Ntukekpo, who accused the governor of plotting to foist a stooge as his successor to cover his tracks, said the APC will win the March 11 governorship election in the state.
“However, the machinations of the PDP administration of Governor Emmanuel Udom are doomed to fail as Akwa Ibom people are resolute in their resolve to vote Obong Akanimo Udofia and the All Progressives Congress as a viable, competent and credible alternative to restore good governance, sanity, probity and accountability into the government and governance of Akwa Ibom State,” he said.
He also distanced the party from a statement purportedly appreciating Udom for approving the use of the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium for its recently held presidential rally in the state.
He added that the stadium is a public facility, built and maintained by tax payers’ money and not the private estate of Udom.
“If anything, we should be grateful to our party leader, His Excellency, Obong Godswill Akpabio, the visionary former governor who conceived, designed and constructed that magnificent edifice for the use of Akwa Ibom people and the nation at large,” he said.
