A former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Obong Victor Attah, has doubted the capacity of ex-governor of the state, Senator Godswill Akpabio, to ensure victory for the All Progressives Congress in the state in 2019.
Akpabio, who quit as the Senate Minority Leader recently defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the APC.
Attah said, “If APC manages to win Akwa Ibom today, it would be in spite of rather than because of Akpabio. This is because if you leave it to Akpabio, I really don’t believe APC can go far in Akwa Ibom State. This is what I know to be the situation.’’
The ex-governor, who spoke with journalists in Lagos on Thursday, said the APC celebrated Akpabio at the national level and that it was a completely different story at the state level.
He added, “There is a saying in my home town that ‘if you manage to cook a pot of soup, cover it properly because if you allow unworthy creatures like cockroaches, millipedes to crawl in, they make it sour.’ This may just happen to the APC at the state level. As an elder statesmen and an objective observer of what is going on in Akwa Ibom, there was a time I would have said that Akwa Ibom had become at least 80 per cent APC. I wouldn’t have been wrong.’’
Attah also stated that there was a time the whole state was PDP and there were fights among the members, adding, “Suddenly, Akpabio came and many moved to the APC. But today, there are defections as many of them returned to the PDP. The APC in Akwa Ibom has to be careful otherwise they could turn their pot of soup completely sour by certain things they are doing.’’
According to him, at the national level, the PDP took a rookie first-time senator and gave him a ranking position.
He noted, “The leader of the opposition is the leader of that party in the Senate. You sang his praises and celebrated him. He leaves your party and you say he is a criminal and running away from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.”
The Punch
