Confusion is trailing the exit of two commissioners from Akwa Ibom State Executive Council as the duo and the government sharply disagreed on the manner of exit.
This is coming at the wake of the departure of Senator Godswill Akpabio from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to All Progressives Congress, APC.
On Tuesday, August 7, Akwa Ibom government dropped Mr Ibanga Akpabio, Commissioner for Labour, Productivity and Manpower Development and Mr Victor Antai, Commissioner for Culture and Tourism.
In announcement dated Tuesday, August 7 and signed by Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, the Secretary to State Government, the state government thanked them for their services to the government and the people of the state.
While the commissioners said they had resigned on Tuesday, August 7, by 9.30 a.m., the SSG disagreed that he never saw the letters before government announced that they had been dropped.
They argued that the said announcement should have reflected that they had resigned from their positions in the state Executive Council and not claim that they were dropped.
“We submitted our resignation letters in the Office of Secretary to the State Government on Tuesday, August 7, by 9.30 p.m. The letters were duly received by the secretary to the SSG,” the commissioners said.
However, Emmanuel Ekuwem, Secretary to the State Government in an interview with Straightnews Thursday disagreed “As at 5p.m, I did not see their resignation letters. So, government had to take its decision.
“You know me. I do not lie. It could be that my secretary collected it without showing to me, but I did not see the letters,’’ Ekuwem added.
With the development, the government has directed Ibanga Akpabio and Victor Antai to handover to the Permanent Secretaries in their ministries before close of work on Wednesday August 8, 2018.
Akpabio and Antai are said to join Senator Akpabio in APC.
