Akpabio, ex-police boss clash over APC’s fate in Akwa Ibom

All Progressives Congress chief, DIG Udom Ekpoudom (rtd) has accused former Niger Delta Affairs Minister, Senator Godswill Akpabio of being responsible for the party not having a governorship candidate in Akwa Ibom State.

Ekpoudom, who claims APC senatorial candidature of Akwa Ibom Northwest, at the weekend, accused Akpabio of manipulating the governorship primary to install his preferred candidate.

He alleged that Akpabio hijacked the materials meant for the primary and diverted them to another venue not recognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

When asked if he was worried that APC in the state might not have a governorship candidate, he said: “I am very worried about that. This is the handiwork of my brother (Akpabio) because he doesn’t like something to go straight.

“During the primaries, all of us waited at the venue for the materials to come. Suddenly, our youths got information that they would divert the materials to do what they used to do in those days. You know that there has never been any election; it was only to thumbprint and thumbprint.

“So, when they came, instead of them to take the materials to the Sheer Grace venue, they decided to take them to somewhere else before the young men blocked them. The young men directed them to go to the INEC office but they refused. They said they would rather go to the DSS. The altercation lasted hours and it was getting late.”

He added: “I remember when Igini put a call to the Director of DSS and he confirmed that they were there. They said they came with a man in charge of Abuja and he spoke with him and the man said he couldn’t do election that day because they were traumatised. So, around 11 pm, we had to go, only to be told the following morning that the election was conducted.

“How? It was the handiwork of Akpabio and many people were not there. So, INEC is saying the correct thing. I will be very sad if APC dies and can’t have a governorship candidate at the end of the day, the blame will go to Akpabio,” he said.

But Akpabio through his Chief Press Secretary, Jackson Udom, dismissed the allegation, saying Ekpoudom was seeking ‘cheap pity and popularity’.

“We understand the frustration the former police chief is currently going through with his phantom senatorial candidacy. The frustration has made him to embark on a pity-party trip for cheap recognition and unmerited sympathy.

“We will advise retired DIG Udom Ekpoudom, to focus his energy on blaming those who took him on political wild goose chase, abandoned him to sink deep into political irrelevance, while they seek political succour for negotiation on another platform and not on the former Minister,” Akpabio said.