G22: Ripples as Ekere, Ekpotu, Esuene, Ntekim, others finally opt out of Akwa Ibom governorship race By Douglas ETIM “You can see that every member of G22 wanted to be governor. But right now, we have come to a position that we are saying it really does not matter who is governor any more amongst us. The only thing we are saying is that Akwa Ibom people must choose for themselves who they want as governor. Our position on the struggle, premised on the need to liberate Akwa Ibom State from the grip of tyranny and impunity, is that the contemptuous selection of Mr. Udom Gabriel Emmanuel as the Governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is repugnant to due process and remains outright rejected by us now as always”. That was the summation of what the Chairman of G22 and former deputy governor, Nsima Ekere, told an enthusiastic crowd of Akwa Ibom people on Saturday in Uyo as he and his colleagues finally jettisoned their 2015 governorship ambitions in Akwa Ibom State as a way of sacrifice for their yet-to-be-disclosed choice candidate in order to “rescue” Akwa Ibom State from what is now perceived in some quarters as a seemingly done deal of Governor Godswill Akpabio’s third term agenda using his preferred governorship candidate, Udom Emmanuel, as a mask. Ekere and his twenty-two aggrieved colleagues drew the battle line with Governor Akpabio after the controversial December 8, 2014 governorship primary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that produced former secretary to government, Udom Emmanuel, as the party’s candidate the 2015 election; the result of which the G22 sees as a plot meticulously orchestrated by the Governor in favour of Udom. They have also termed the outcome of that election and other conducts of the governor as impunity that must be stopped at all cost. Smoke literally belching from their nostrils, the G22 said they have had enough of a governor who thinks himself a god by planning to appoint the next 26 members of the state house of assembly, the three senators, state and local government executives, among others, in his self-seeking ambition to lord over the state in perpetuity. With the theme, “On united Akwa Ibom we stand”, Obong Ekere and his colleagues told the gathering that it would be in the overall benefit of Akwa Ibom State that the people unite all democratic forces to ensure that Udom’s rejection is implemented next month during the governorship election in the state. Of significant mention too, was the presence of the governorship candidate of All Progressives Congress, Umana Okon Umana, and Senator Ita Enang whose speeches stirred up the crowd continuously till the end of the occasion.
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 21:05:35 +0000