Reacting to the invitation of some state PDP leaders by Mr. Ibrahim Idris, the Inspector-General of Police, Luke warned that the office of President Muhammadu Buhari cannot be used to intimidate him or any member of the PDP in the state in the ongoing preparations for the 2019 general elections.
“Akwa Ibom people respect the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. His office should therefore not be used as the office of the intimidator-in-chief,” Mr. Onofiok Luke, speaker of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Tuesday, dared the presidency.
Last week Thursday, the Department of the IGP’s Monitoring Unit had invited Otuekong Idongesit Nkanga, the Director-General of Governor Udom Emmanuel’s Divine Mandate Campaign Council; Iniobong Essien, Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources; Imoh Okon, Chairman of Uyo local government area; and Fubara Duke, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Security Matters, to Force Headquarters, Abuja over a petition against them by Ini Okopido, the state Chairman of All Progressives Congress, APC, on the destruction of the party’s campaign billboards.
Reacting to the invitation of some state PDP leaders by Mr. Ibrahim Idris, the Inspector-General of Police, Luke Luke warned that the office of President Muhammadu Buhari cannot be used to intimidate him or any member of the PDP in the state in the ongoing preparations for the 2019 general elections.
He said although the petitioner did not say he did something bad, it was written falsely that while on the campaign train of the governor, the speaker had threatened not to allow candidates of the opposition APC in the state to campaign freely and openly.
Speaking shortly after plenary, he said the petition contained “frivolous allegations,” recalling that the invited PDP leaders were ordered to make written statements on the matter before they were released to go at the weekend.
The speaker said: “In Akwa Ibom State, we are law abiding citizens of Nigeria and no one can use the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the security agencies, under the guise of politics, to intimidate us. That is my message for the Akwa Ibom people, and that is my message for the teeming supporters of the PDP.
Luke also expressed concern at the speed with which President Buhari minuted on the petition and forwarded same to the Inspector-General of Police for treatment, noting that such speed could have been equally applied in other areas to solve the myriads of problems plaguing the country.
“I wish that such speed was equally applied in other areas, we would not be having security challenges in the country again. If such speed was employed in addressing issues in the Niger Delta, we would have had a clean-up of Ogoni land before now.
“I wish that such speed too by the Presidency would have been applied in the award of contract for the dualization of Calabar-Itu Road, with a spur to Ididep; by now we would have been driving on that dual carriageway.
“So, let that speed at which the Presidency minuted on that frivolous petition with trumped-up charges and allegations be applied in other areas to solve the poverty in Nigeria.
“Within the ambit of the law, and as law abiding citizens, we will use every legal means to resist every attempt to cow or intimidate the PDP and its supporters in Akwa Ibom State, and the Campaign organization of Governor Udom Emmanuel.”
He, however, challenged the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the state to campaign to test its popularity instead of hiding behind the Federal Government to intimate the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the 2019 elections approach.
“If members of the Akwa Ibom APC think they are popular, they should stop using the state apparatus and security agencies to intimidate us. The more they try to intimidate us, the more our resolve to defend the common mandate of Governor Udom Emmanuel.
“And I am also telling them that, if they are popular; they should come back home and campaign, and not behave like children who would go and start a fight and then run to their father for protection.”
Earlier, the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly Legislative Funds Management Bill 2018, which was sponsored by the House Leader, Udo Kierian Akpan, had passed through second reading.
The bill which seeks to provide for the management of funds accruing to the state assembly from the consolidated revenue fund of the state was further committed to the joint House’ committees on Parliamentary/Special Matters and House Services for further legislative action.
The House also dissolved all its standing committees and mandated former chairmen of the committees to still work in acting capacity, pending the reconstitution of new ones.
