The Akwa Ibom State All Progressives Congress Monday came hard on Governor Udom Emmanuel over what the party sees as his ‘emotional outbursts’ on Senator Ita Enang.
A press release signed by Mr. Nkereuwem Enyongekere, the State Publicity Secretary, APC said “Yesterday, Sunday, August 23, 2020 was just another day in the series of Governor Udom Emmanuel’s Live Media Chats, since the coming of COVID-19 in Nigeria and Akwa Ibom State.
“Apart from using his constituted COVID-19 Incident Management Committee chaired by the Secretary to Government, Dr Emmanuel Ekuwem, to periodically update the state on series of his directives, Mr Udom Emmanuel has constantly been on this programme for the sixth time now.
“After he boasted that the state was named after God and that the virus could never have its way into the state, Governor Emmanuel who faulted the five index cases, became humbled when the record was maintained by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). While we appreciate his afterthought and defeatist surrender to the potent powers of the virus, we are bemused that he still runs amok, even without being hunted.”
Enyongekere lamented that “During the media chat yesterday, the Governor demonstrated his regular trait of character failure when he raised issues bordering on the unemployment statistics as recently released against Akwa Ibom State by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
“We were bewildered when the Governor, without being prompted, took out quality time to malign one of our very revered party leaders and SSA to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, Distinguished Senator Ita Solomon Enang. In his attempt to react to Ita Enang’s view on the recent statistics, Emmanuel left the issue and attacked the Senator. The Governor was very bold and comfortable to tell the whole world that he has gone mad.”
He declared “Governor Emmanuel became a replica of an unchained mad man when he sat on a live programme proclaiming his madness to the whole world. As a party, we are not only worried that a professional banker had been an uncultured man all his life. We are worried because it appears that Akwa Abasi Ibom State, a state named after God is having an uncultured man as a governor.
“We are careful to ask: what does Mr. Udom Emmanuel mean by saying, ‘Ita Enang should understand that he does not have a monopoly of madness?’ The temperamental Governor Emmanuel who lacks any fraction of emotional intelligence accused the revered Senator of inciting the youths into violence. He added, ‘I hereby warn him that as a government, henceforth we would not tolerate such abnormality in this state.”
The APC spokesperson queried “The question is, did the Governor quickly suffer memory loss at an instant, when he demanded constructive criticism from those who must criticize him? Was his response or reaction to Ita Enang a constructive one?
“Reasonably, one would wish to know how Senator Ita Enang offended Udom Emmanuel to warrant the insult. This takes our mind to a recent media interaction where Distinguished Senator Ita Enang reacted to the unemployment statistics.”
Enyongekere recalled “On the Business Day of August 19, 2020, a report where Ita Enang expressed embarrassment over the unemployment became a trending story. The issues addressed by the Senator bordered on a high level of unemployment occasioned by lack of jobs for teeming graduates.
“Senator Enang who said the state was the highest revenue earner from the federal account, noted that hundreds of retirees were leaving service but that government has not recruited for a long time. He questioned the sincerity of the industries which he rightly said were privately owned by individuals and asked parents to stop buying internet subscription data for their graduate children to sing the praises of Udom Emmanuel’s non-performing government.
“The question is, has the Governor not repeatedly said that the industries are owned by private individuals? From Ibom Air, The Toothpick and Pencil Factory, the Flour Mill, Rice Mill and others, where is the government’s equity share? What percentage of share is the Akwa Ibom State government having in each of them? Is there any record that the government has a say in causing any of these industries to function maximally? How many Akwa Ibom people are working there? Why should a thinking person attack a Senator in that manner, after his failure to deliver on his mandate?
“As if that was not enough, we also spotted a very empty threat contained in a press release issued by the Akwa Ibom PDP Youth Caucus. The broken piece of information would not have attracted our attention if it did not repeat the very same phrase used by the Governor, that they would not “tolerate any more insults.”
According to him, “On this note, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state do hereby apologize to distinguished Senator Ita Solomon Enang on the unfortunate outburst of Governor Udom Emmanuel. It is sad that a chief executive of a state could fail in logic and rationale to, without reservations, abuse a high intellectual in the capacity of Ita Enang.
“It is surprising that Governor Emmanuel who had his palm kernel cracked for him by benevolent spirit could sit in an international media to say he was going to use Senator Ita Enang to set an example. How can you abuse Ita Enang and then demand constructive criticism? While we observe that only a man of unstable character would mouth such claim, let it be known that Governor Emmanuel in this latest outburst has confirmed that he is haunted by perpetual character failure and diseased mind. We condemn in totality, this ‘madness’ of Governor Udom Emmanuel.
“Consequently, we call on President Muhammad Buhari to take notice of this self-confessed madman. It is important, at this juncture, to report this confirmed case of madness to the Inspector General of Police, IGP Mohammed Abubakar Adamu. The Department of State Services must be directed to watch out for an imminent reign of terror in the state. We note that if anything happens to Senator Ita Enang or any other leader of the party or our supporters, Governor Udom Emmanuel should be held questioned by his madness,” he added.
