Moffat Ekoriko
Every time I met Senator Godswill Akpabio in the last four years, I always gazed into his eyes in case I could read what goes on in his mind. Here is a man who became the governor of Akwa Ibom State and in eight years redefined the concept of governance in Nigeria.
He turned what was a backwater of development into an emerging economic space. He did not stop there, he changed the psyche of his people, turning them into proud men and women. Under him, you could greet a fellow Akwa Ibom man at the airport in Lagos and he would not respond in English. We all revelled in our collective new found status as the toast of Nigeria.
He left office in 2015. He was elected to the Nigerian Senate. In spite of the rule against first timers becoming principal officers, his then party, the PDP, elected him the Senate Minority leader. A year to the 2018 election, he left the PDP for the APC.
Then came the elections which he contested to return to the Senate. He won convincingly at the polling units. Between the polling units and the collation centres, things went wrong. Akpabio, the Uncommon Performer and toast of the Nigerian political class was announced the loser of the election he clearly won.
How did they do it? A loquacious electoral umpire based in Uyo broke all known electoral rules to cancel the results from Essien Udim, which was Akpabio’s home local government area. To illustrate how wrong this was, the umpire did not cancel the result of the presidential votes cast by the same voters in the same local government area at the same time.
In other words, it was possible for irregularities to affect the result of the Senatorial election but not that of the presidential. The results from the other local government areas were simply changed. The worst was my local government of Ukanafun where Akpabio won convincingly but the results that surfaced at Uyo claimed that he lost. Later, we learnt that dark forces (ekpu essien) from all over Nigeria who were afraid that Akpabio would become the Senate president had conspired with the rats at home (ekpu ufok) to rig him out. President Buhari later appointed him a minister.
Fast forward to 2023. The people of his senatorial district needed to prove to the entire world that they are a people who value excellence more than any other virtue. Akpabio was an excellent leader and servant of the people. In 2019, his people did not, could not and never rejected it. Their will was thwarted. This time, the people were wiser. They will vote for Akpabio but they will also defend the votes.
In one voice, they voted the most decorated politician in the history of Nigeria back to the Senate. By this simple act, they have vindicated themselves. Akpabio is a once in a lifetime leader. There was no way his people would have let the opportunity to be represented by him slip away. His election is proof that people are always ready to stand by a good leader.
Next time I see him, I will not try to read his mind. I will simply laugh.
Ekoriko is the publisher of NewsAfrica, London
