• Friday, March 29, 2024
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BusinessDay

Akwa Ibom after ‘the war’

Gov-Udom-Emmanuel

It is now in the public domain that the battle for the control of Akwa Ibom State has been lost and won. The results of the National Assembly and governorship elections have confirmed who the winners and losers are. So, the intrigues, defections and bitterness that were the hallmarks of the campaigns have now been put to rest at least for the time being. But why was there so much interest in the control of Akwa Ibom State?

Akwa Ibom: Rich state, poor people

With a population of a little over 5 million people, Akwa Ibom State is compact and has in recent times attracted the attention of many interest groups and investors within and outside the country. It is one of the major oil producing states a cash cow of the Federal Government. Thanks to the derivation principle which allows oil producing states to enjoy 13 percent additional revenue based on the volume of oil production. Though there has been controversy about the actual payment of the 13 percent derivation fund. While the state government has repeatedly maintained that it has not been paid in full, the Federal Government has yet to deny or make any statement on whether it has fully complied with 13 derivation principle. In spite of being a rich state in terms of what it collects from the centre as a result of its crude oil deposits, the state has not a single petrochemical project. No refinery, no oil depot.  A rich state with poor people.

With such a rich endowment and the potential to become hub for oil and gas development in the Gulf of Guinea from petrodollars, it was no surprise that Akwa Ibom was the state marked for “capturing” by the federal forces as it were during the elections.

Akwa Ibom is PDP

Since 1999, when the country returned to democracy, Akwa Ibom has always voted overwhelmingly for the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and for many people, it is often said that PDP is like a religion for the people, it is their way of life and they have not known any other party since then.

But all that changed when Godswill Akpabio, a  former two-term governor and former Senate Minority Leader defected from PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in August last year. Though speculations had been rife about his defection, it was not until his picture with President Muhammadu Buhari in London surfaced that it dawned on all that the deed had been done.

Before then, Nsima Ekere, the erstwhile managing director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and former deputy governor of Akwa Ibom State who served when Akpabio was at the helms of affairs, had also thrown his hat into the ring. After the primaries of the APC, he became the flag bearer of his party and the stage was set for an epic battle between Ekere and incumbent Governor, Udom Emmanuel on who will be the next governor from May 29.

The campaigns  

When the electioneering campaigns started, both parties drew large crowd in many of the rallies held across the state. Though many had expressly said that crowds do not win elections, noting that some of them may have been rented crowd, it nevertheless did not overshadow the fanfare, the songs and dances that greeted the rallies. Both parties would mount the soap box to present their manifesto, made promises and would go after each other in saying why the voters should cast their ballots for them.

In the course of the campaigns, President Buhari visited Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital and this was met with controversy over the venue of the event. Though this was finally resolved and the presidential campaign held at the Akwa Ibom International Stadium, APC had threatened to use the “federal might” in making use of the stadium.

Similarly, in the course of the campaigns, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had visited Akwa Ibom State twice. First, it was when the party held its rally in Nsit Atai Local Government Area. The Vice President used the opportunity of the visit to launch the TraderMoni scheme and distributed money to traders in selected markets in the state. This was seen as a way of buying votes, coming few weeks to the general elections. After the first round of the elections, the Vice President also came back to Akwa Ibom Stae; that was after the Presidential and National Assembly elections. Initially, APC had informed its supporters that Buhari was coming to the state to put paid to fears that APC would not be able to win in Akwa Ibom State following the dismal performance of the party in the National Assembly polls.

Signs that things were not looking good for the APC started to emerge when the party announced that Buhari would be represented by the Vice President and even then, Osinbajo did not show up in Uyo until after 7 p.m.

It was during the visit that the Vice President reportedly promised to make sure that APC wins the governorship election in the state, saying that it was not possible for Akpabio to have lost his seat as a senator representing Akwa Ibom North West.

“It is not possible that Senator Godswill Akpabio lost. We are in no doubt that Senator Akpabio is the elected senator of Akwa Ibom North West senatorial district.

“What happened on February 23 was robbery. The votes of the people were stolen but we are not deterred. We are going to make sure that everything that was stolen on February 23 would be restored,’’ he said.

This statement according to observers seemed to have fired up supporters of the PDP to vote massively vote for their candidates in governorship and the state assembly elections in which Udom Emmanuel polled 519,712 votes as against Nsima Ekere of the APC, his closest rival, who scored 171,978 votes. The PDP also won all the state assembly seats.

After the results of the elections were announced, there were claims and counter claims as to what transpired and who won rightly or did not win. Not surprisingly, the focus appears to be on the governorship polls and that of Akwa Ibom North Senatorial District.

Akpabio and Ekere have maintained that they were not only robbed, but that the electoral umpire was biased against them. This, however, has been denied by the electoral agency.

The war of words

In all this, the media war has intensified between the two camps despite the conclusion of the electoral process in the state.

Interestingly, some of the groups so vocal in repudiating the former Senate minority leader are from his local government and these include his kinsmen.

Addressing a press conference in Uyo, the state capital, Akpabio’s kinsmen consisting of stakeholders, leadership of PDP in the local government area accused him of being behind the many electoral offences and the alleged abduction of election materials.

According to Imo-owo Okpokpo who spoke at the conference, “The electoral officer at about 10.00pm on the election day together with the collation officers in the collation room was seriously beaten up.”

But Governor Emmanuel who has offered an olive branch to his opponents has urged them to be man enough to accept the reality that they have been soundly defeated.

“Believe me, Akwa Ibom people have spoken and that is the end, the losers should go and bear their shame.

“Akwa Ibom people have left them; I am happy about it,’’ the governor said.

For now, the battle for the control of the state seems to be over, what is however, yet to be resolved is the willingness of the opposition groups to be bold enough to accept the fact that the elections are over and that they should move on and should put the elections behind them.

 

ANIEFIOK UDONQUAK, Uyo