Akparawa Ephraim Inyangeyen is the Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Works. In this interview with ISAAC JOB in Uyo, Inyangeyen speaks on Governor Udom Emmanuel’s chances of winning the 2019 governorship election in Akwa Ibom against the wish of selfish politicians.
Recently the senatorial candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC) for Ikot Ekpene senatorial District directed the governorship candidate of his party not to campaign in his area and the other two senatorial districts of the state, he went further to send a message to the incumbent governor Udom Emmanuel that by next year, the APC will take over the state. With this threat, what is the fate of the PDP in Akwa Ibom?
That is a very good question. Well, maybe they have already allocated votes to themselves. That may also be claimed to have perfected a rigging strategy.
But I know that a man who holds his PVC in Ikot Ekpene senatorial District has an independent opinion and what the man in Ikot Ekpene would think is different from what the man in Abak or Oruk Anam would think.
If the senatorial candidate of the APC in Ikot Ekpene feels that their governorship candidate shouldn’t campaign, then it is obvious that they think it would be business as usual using the old rigging machinery.
But I would want to believe that with what happened recently at the National Assembly, where the Electoral Law was again passed with amendment, which we believe Mr. President will sign, it means that the use of electronic device which we call card reader will become mandatory.
They are even going further to say that if the card reader does not work, the election in that unit should be postponed for the next 24 hours until the card reader works, it means that every man will have a vote.
I don’t think that anybody in Akwa Ibom will ignore the fact that Governor Udom Emmanuel has done exceedingly well in several areas. Let me leave my projects and talk about the peace that he has restored to the state.
This was a state that many of us never showed up because of kidnappings and reckless killings in the state.
You remember when the group which we call the business group of Akwa Ibom indigenes came to see the governor, the leader of that group said in very clear terms that his mother warned him never to show up in Akwa Ibom throughout the eight years of the last administration.
So if nothing else has happened, Governor Udom Emmanuel has restored peace to the state, and people can now sleep with their two eyes close in Akwa Ibom.
And I don’t think any Akwa Ibomite would wants to send away that peace, because it is not something you get so easily and commonly around.
And again I think it was on the same day that they say that we shouldn’t come campaigning that he went further to say that one of the reasons they would not vote for Udom Emmanuel was that no project has been done in Ikot Ekpene senatorial district.
We are aware of other projects initiated and completed in Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District by this administration; can you please tell us why the Uyo-Ikot Ikot Ekpene road could not move at expected speed?
I don’t want to go into projects across Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District because they are too many, but I will take one particular project, and for the first time we are going to give details of what happened to Uyo-Ikot Ekpene road to further establish that what has been said about Udom’s performance or non-performance as per Ikot Ekpene senatorial district is absolutely false.
Uyo-Ikot Ekpene road was awarded by the government of His Excellency Governor Godswill Obot Akpabio on the 19th of December, 2011.
It was awarded at the cost of twenty eight billion, three hundred and sixty four million, five hundred and seventy-five thousand, eight hundred and three naira, twenty two kobo to Julius Berger.
As that work started on the 12th of September, 2013, it was reviewed upwards by the sum of twenty three billion, five hundred and sixteen million, two hundred and twenty eight, and three hundred and thirty nine thousand.
Again there is what they call additional works, it was reviewed again on the 25th of September, 2014 with the sum of nineteen billion, four hundred and forty eight million, three hundred and seventy three thousand, two hundred and seventeen naira, sixty-seven kobo,
bringing the total value to seventy-one billion, three hundred and fifty nine million, one hundred and seventy-seven thousand, one hundred and fourteen naira, fifty nine kobo.
And this was as at 25th September, 2014. Governor Udom Emmanuel became governor on the 29th of May, 2015.
I want to state here very clearly that the bulk of this money had been released and they didn’t achieve 50 percent of that road construction because as at the time that road was hurriedly commissioned early April, 2015 they were at kilometer 15 and that kilometer 15 did not have the wearing course, that is the final asphalt was not there. That final asphalt is what really holds the road firm.
And I heard in that same interview when the former governor said he took it to kilometer 18, I want to; for emphasis say that the structure that stood at Ikpe Annang that you turn to go to Essien Udim is at kilometer 15.16 and that building never went down until February, 2017
that this government sourced money, one hundred and forty one million naira and paid the owner of that property to take down that property, so it is not possible for the government to have gotten to kilometer 18, and this structure at kilometer 15.
That was a major challenge, a case in court was still standing and we were made to understand that he had gotten to kilometer 18 and that this government did only 3 kilometres.
I am saying that even at kilometer 18 we couldn’t have done only 3 kilometres because we are now at kilometer 23 remaining 2 kilometres to Four Point Sheraton, so 18 minus 23 would have been at least 5 kilometres but that is not correct.
What we have done is that since the coming to Governor Udom Emmanuel we have done the final asphalting of kilometer zero to fifteen and we are taking it from kilometer 15 to kilometer 23, that is 8 kilometres and the remaining 2 kilometres, we are paying compensation from Friday.
And most important of all, I want to state clearly that all these did not even take into consideration the flood, the outfall drains that were supposed to have been done on that road.
It is this administration of Udom that is coming up to consider constructing drains because all the communities on that road are having flood situations. We are considering how to now do the outfall drains.
So my question would be; if you say this road was awarded at N71billion and the duration was three years, it was supposed to have been completed in December 2014 and with two revisions, why was it not completed? Where did the money go to? These are very simple questions.
Are you saying the N71 billion was fully paid?
You can go and interview Julius Berger to find out how much they have received. Like I have said in my previous interviews, the only challenge we have on that road that delay the road was that we didn’t meet any money in the bill one that we were supposed to use to pay compensation.
And these facts have to be given to the public with figures and dates because you cannot deny the truth; it has to be brought out and I have the responsibility to bring out these details and I am determined to bring out all the details of other such awards when the need arises.
If anybody contradicts what is on ground, just like the Ikot Ekara road in Oruk Anam, if anybody comes to deny the fact that road construction was not properly handled by Haamakop, and they want to contradict the fact that the payment for that job was not properly done, we will come out with the figures.
So for the Uyo-Ikot Ekpene today, the figures are out. I want someone to contradict them.
If you were on this other side, would you have voted for Udom Emmanuel?
I will give you several answers. If I wouldn’t support Udom for anything else, I would have supported him for the peace he has brought on this land. Most of our sons and daughters who didn’t use to visit home in the days of killings and kidnapping are all visiting now.
Many have transferred their PVCs back to the state. Every Local Government Area that had no taste of infrastructure from 1987 till 2015 are now enjoying infrastructures.
Today Ini people can go to Arochukwu with their cars. If you were from Ini; who would you have voted for? If you were from Ikono which had nothing for eight years, and in three years they are having so much, who would you have voted for?
If you were from Obot Akara, where children from Nto Edino were cut off schools, but now have the best of bridges, which would you have.
If you were from Oron, with all the abandoned excavations which later became a death trap and an eyesore, and the Governor promptly responded to your SOS and within few months cleaned it up, please tell me who you would have voted for.
If you were from Udung Uko that could not access Mbo, if you were from Oruk Anam that had no road but now having four contractors cleaning up communities around your area, who would have been your preferred candidate?
If you were a student of Obio Akpa campus of the Akwa Ibom State University, and now your campus is wearing a new look, if you were from Uruan with a zero road level and now you have four new roads, your guess is as good as mine.
If you were from Ibiono Ibom, where your paramount ruler had no road to his palace, and within the first year on the saddle, both your paramount Ruler’s road and the bridge got fixed,
If you were from Nsit Atai and now you have a dualized new road, in my opinion I would have voted for a governor who has given me modern infrastructure to make life better.
If you were an Akwa Ibom youth, and a governor is building industries to wipe off the civil service mentality and give you massive job opportunities, If you had witnessed the dark ages of this state and now you are welcoming new power substations all over, with improved power supply, please judge for yourself.
Tell me who wouldn’t vote for a governor who is constructing a super highway to open up the Ibom deep seaport. If you ask all the genuine Akwa Ibomites, they would consider Udom Emmanuel to continue.
If he could do all these in three years, I am convinced that in eight years, Akwa Ibomites would ask that he be returned to do more.
What is going to be the focus of the governor in his second term?
Well I won’t speak clearly for the governor because he will still articulate his second term agenda. But what I think the governor will do would be a further expansion of what he has started.
He won’t in the middle of the road change direction. If it is industrialization, he will drive it further to achieve more results, if it is expansion of infrastructure, most of the ongoing projects will be driven to conclusion so that their beauty would come out and the benefits would accrue to our people.
So I think that the governor would basically do an expansion of his five point agenda in his second term so that the true expectation, the real dividends would become manifest for everyone to see.
Somebody said that the governor is building rice mills as industries. I am sorry I have to ask this question, when we came we heard that every local government in Akwa Ibom in eight years were supposed to have one industry each, ‘the 31 industries’, but we met none.
But in Governor Udom Emmanuel’s three and the half years as at today, we have the coconut refinery which is almost nearing completion; it is on the Ikot Abasi-Eket express road, it is not hidden.
The flour mill will start production at Mkpok Ukat.in December. The syringe factory as at today is producing. The metering factory is producing.
And somebody came with the story that everything is in Onna. It is not true. Those are private concerns that the individuals chose the locations where they think their interest would be protected.
The coconut refinery in Mkpat Enin would have achieved more milestones by today if not for the restiveness of the youths of Eastern Obolo, Mkpat Enin and Ikot Abasi fighting over that land.
The initial coconut seedlings that were brought there were not allowed to be planted because of the battles. The governor was even considering relocating it to Ini local government that has another fertile land that can grow those coconuts.
We even believe some of them were sponsored. So you can see that someone who promised Akwa Ibom 31 industries in the eight years of surplus but built none has no justification to say that all that Governor Udom Emmanuel has done in three and the half years are cassava mills; it must be put right.
He had the opportunity to build more than 31 industries but none was built in our eight years of surplus. Remember the dream of Pharaoh and how Joseph interpreted it, that there would be seven years of surplus and then seven years of famine.
If Pharaoh had not brought Joseph to be prime minister to manage the seven years of surplus and seven years of famine Egypt would have been wiped out, but unfortunately we didn’t have that luck.
Some persons believe that the persons appointed by the governor into his cabinet are still connected to Senator Godswill Akpabio and could betray him in the 2019 election. What is your take on this?
I will answer it in two ways. First the success of Governor Udom Emmanuel in the 2019 elections is not in the hands of anybody’s, including mine.
It is in God’s hands. And let me tell you that even if God will have to use donkeys as He has used them before, he would use them.
When we did political analysis for Donald Trump, the president of America, the entire media world including the American media society never gave him a chance
but it was destined that God had designed Trump to do what he is doing in America and I still remember our governor saying to us then that he believes that Trump will win. So even though he didn’t have much support, somehow he won.
Now it would be arrogant for anybody to sit down and say if not me Udom will not be governor. That is not correct. Power is given by God. If anybody close to Udom chooses to betray him, I will tell you one truth; he will come crawling and crying on the ground because Udom will win a second term.
You may ask how? That will be determined by God. And they say in politics you don’t discuss God; I do discuss God because what I have seen happen can only be done by God.
Let me take you back to 2014, as build-up to the politics of 2015 there were betrayals inside the house. Many outsiders didn’t know. There were several, high-wire betrayers but God saw Udom Emmanuel through.
When it comes to the time, many things will be laid bare and many Akwa Ibomites will be surprised. I will not today attribute the success of Governor Udom Emmanuel in 2015 to any human.
Yes, there were human instruments that God used but that thing was entirely God’s business and that same God is still alive, and so He will do it again.
Like the facts we are throwing open today, His Excellency the governor told me he didn’t come here to look.at what any other person had done. He had restricted us to talk about what he has done.
These facts are emerging today because the man who ought not to bring these things out is pushing us to bring them out because he wants to give the masses the impression that Governor Udom Emmanuel is against Ikot Ekpene senatorial district, which is not correct.
So we have to bring these facts for people to use in their judgment. Now it would not be right for me to sit down here and say to you that there will be no betrayals.
There will be. It may not even be the ones people are strongly suspecting, it may even be those you assume are very close to the governor that would betray him.
Judas the Iscariot was the treasurer of Jesus Christ ministry. If we were going to look at the man who could betray Jesus, Judas the Iscariot wasn’t that person, but he came out to betray Jesus.
My prayer is that woes betide he who would betray Udom Emmanuel because the truth is that he would come back crying and crawling on the ground and it would be too late.
But I want to guarantee you that except the God, who did it in 2015, is not alive; nothing will happen. And also don’t forget that we as mortals will like to boost of our prowess, many times we eliminate God from the equation.
No man succeeds except there is God. Even Satan recognizes God. Do you know why I said so? Satan cannot effect anything on the life of a child of God without consulting God.
If you seek power and God is not involved, you won’t succeed. Udom Emmanuel is seeking power with the help of God and God will determine what will happen.
Recently we have seen some aides of the governor resigning, and when you get to interact with them they tell you that the governor is so high-handed; the governor treats them with disdain. You have worked closely with the governor, is he not motivating his aides?
I think the governor has done much more than people could imagine.
I remember when I called the Eket senatorial district meeting in my home in Onna sometime ago, as we were having the meeting, someone got up and said something similar to what you just asked me now; that the governor was not motivating us. I was distraught and I was prompted to make a comment.
I said this is what the governor has done for us at our level that I am aware of and that any commissioner that was there who wanted to argue should stand up and challenge me; none of them did.
I want to say this very clearly that people think it should be a tea party, where people come to share the state resources.
This governor is very meticulous in managing our resources that he wants to put virtually all the money after salary into projects, so that sharing formula that a lot of people were used to have been eliminated.
Number two let me share one common thing that some of them have said to my hearing, that the governor didn’t buy Corolla for all the appointees.
Now let’s do a simple calculation. In 2015 a Toyota Corolla was about N6million and in 2015 Akwa Ibom was receiving something in the region of N35billion to N37billion a month.
In 2016 to 2017, Akwa Ibom was receiving about N9billion and our salary portfolio was about N7billion.
If you now look at a Toyota Corolla today at N22million and now if the governor was to take what we have after payment of salary to buy Toyota Corolla for all the appointees, it means Akwa Ibom would shut down.
We won’t even have money to but diesel to power the street lights and do any other job.
When economic situation changes the parameters of governance must change. So what the governor simple did was to joggle a few things to say this is what we have because we had the privilege of having this, now this is no longer available, please let’s make do with what we have.
He appointed more people as SAs and PAs. And then again, one of them that resigned happens to be somebody I know and I called him and asked what happened.
He said he agrees that Governor Udom Emmanuel has done well, but that he was appointed through the instrumentality of the former governor and he could not, as a conscience matter write against the man or against Udom so the best choice for him was to go out and do an objective reportage.
I am waiting to read what he will write. And now I am of the opinion that politically speaking Udom Emmanuel could never have refused to accept the people the former governor wanted in the cabinet, given the fact that it was through his instrumentality as a human being that even the first idea was mooted.
God used him as an SSG and he became governor. He had a role he played and none of us would deny the fact that he was our leader, so even if there was a slot in Ikot Ekpene naturally he should have a voice in it and if you look at the pattern of resignation it is mostly in Ikot Ekpene.
As for the young man who resigned in Uyo and later claimed to have escaped from assassins; which assassins? I can bet with my life that Governor Udom Emmanuel is too smart and wise to condescend to killing his subordinates; for what? Udom Emmanuel doesn’t need power by blood that is why he came in to stop the killings in the land.
In the case of that young man; the commissioner of police told us that he has been attacked in the same location along his house by armed robbers on two previous occasions.
So what are we discussing? It would be an insult for me to leave my table as a commissioner and begin to pursue my clerks in the office.
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