Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Congress (APC) clashed over Senate President Godswill Akpabio’s statement to reclaim Akwa Ibom State in 2027.
Addressing APC leaders in Uyo, the capital of Akwa Ibom, Akpabio said it would be “an aberration” if he does not ensure that the party produce a governor in 2027.
“Is it possible that Nigeria will give Akwa Ibom the number three citizen and at the end of the election, it will not produce an APC governor,” Akpabio had said.
But in a statement issued on Wednesday, Debo Ologunagba, PDP spokesperson, asked Akpabio to “perish the thought.”
“The scheme to use false claims and inciting comments to destabilise the state has already failed,” the statement reads.
Ologunagba said Akpabio should “come to terms with the fact that the people of Akwa Ibom state are firmly rooted in the PDP.”
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He added that the people of the state cannot “be swayed by any agent of disunity, incitement, hatred and retrogression whose intention is to use propaganda and hate speeches to derail and appropriate the State for selfish interest.”
“The boast by Senator Akpabio to take over Akwa Ibom State in 2027 is not only pathetically empty but further exposes his level of arrogance and disdain for the sensibility, intelligence, democratic right and sovereignty of the people of Akwa Ibom State,” he said.
He urged the senate president to “leave Akwa Ibom State alone” and focus on the challenges of his office and allegations of corruption against him.
“Senator Akpabio should note that the office of the Senate President does not confer any form of immunity on him from investigation and/or prosecution. In any event, he must know that time does not run against the State in criminal matters,” Ologunagba said.
However, Akwa Ibom APC Chairman of Media and Publicity Committee Iniobong John, in a statement, affirmed that “The Akwa Ibom State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has said that it stands by the claims of its leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio, of working towards taking over the state through the ballot in 2027.
The statement entitled “No amount of false propaganda will stop APC from wrestling power from PDP in Akwa Ibom in 2027 election,” said on Thursday that the PDP response to Senator Akpabio’s claims was borne out of fear of the reality on ground.
Describing the PDP statement as propaganda, the APC spokesperson said the party will use every legitimate means to wrestle power in the next general elections.
According to him: “The resort to false propaganda against the Senate President by the PDP has failed already, as Akwa Ibomites cannot wait for the 2027 polls to end the reign of the PDP in the state and we assure that we’ll produce the next governor of the state.
“What our grand leader, the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, said, that is, winning the 2027 election in the state by lawful, peaceful and legitimate means, is what will happen and no amount of false propaganda by Debo Ologunagbas of this world will stop it.
“The hogwash by Debo Ologunagba only exposes his emptiness, incompetence, pettiness and the level that the PDP has descended to.
He advised Ologunagba to be cautious of how he “uses his office to churn out false, misleading, unfounded and unprovable propaganda to the public about public office holders.”
