A Board of Trustees (BOT) member of All Progressives Party, APC and a prominent indigene of Akwa Ibom State, Atuekong Don Etiebet, appears ready for war over the declaration of Senator Godswill Akpabio as the leader of the party in the state.
Akpabio who defected from the People’s Democratic Party, PDP to APC on Wednesday at Ikot Ekpene Stadium was declared state leader of the party by Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, national leader of the party and Adams Oshiomhole, national chairman of the party.
Reacting to the declaration, Etiebet, a one-time BOT member of PDP, re-affirmed ‘’Of course, as the leader of the Party and Chairman the State Caucus of the Party I have been bombarded by so many calls by our members, even from the reception grounds at Ikot Ekpene Stadium when it was said that some of our National Leaders had pronounced Senator Akpabio Leader of the Party in the State. I told them to calm down until I return.’’
As a fall-out of Akpabio’s declaration and against the background that Etiebet and Akpabio are seen as political foes, Straightnews got wind of Etiebet’s purported plan to defect to PDP and published same onThursday that talks were being intensified for his return to PDP to help in re-strategising for the party’s winning during the forthcoming general elections.
However, Etiebet described the story thus ‘’This is hogwash. I want to state categorically that nothing can sway me to leave APC for any other political Party. I will live and retire from politics with APC and whosoever is fishing is wasting his or her time.
‘’I also want to state that I welcome whole heartedly Senator Godswill Akpabio into the APC family in Akwa Ibom State and his coming will, undoubtedly, consolidate our work to build a very verile APC in Akwa Ibom State to drive away PDP from Akwa Ibom State.
‘’We were the PDP in Akwa Ibom State which made Akwa Ibom 100% PDP and with Senator Godswill Akpabio coming to APC, the annihilation of PDP in the State is complete and Akwa Ibom is now 100% APC and Governor Udom Emmanuel is counting his days at the Hilltop Mansion, Uyo.’’
Continuing, he recalled ‘’I was not at the reception because I had been out of the country since Saturday 29th July, 2018 for some medicals which I had been postponing since April because of all the APC activities during the period and I had to leave in order to come back on time for the start of the primaries.
‘’When I left, it was only rumours that Senator Godswill Akpabio might be decamping to APC. While away Vanguard newspaper texted me on my feelings towards the rumoured decampment of Senator Godswill Akpabio and I replied that if the rumours become consummated I would be very excited.’’
