A/Ibom re-run: Vendetta against Akpabio may destroy APC, says party chieftain

, Uyo

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Akwa Ibom and Director General of Godswill Campaign Organisation during the last general election,  Dr.  Chris Akpan has said that some leaders of the party are still nursing hidden hatred against the Niger Delta Affairs minister, Senator Godswill Akpabio.

Akpan warned that such enmity against Akpabio if not buried once and for all may block the APC from wrestling power from the Peoples Democratic Party  (PDP), on next Saturday’s re- run poll as well as  2023 general election.

Though he did not mention the alleged enemies of Akpabio, Akpan said  some leaders of APC  in the state still hate Akpabio secretly.

He said these leaders smile and consult with the minister in the day, but instruct their followers to oppose and denigrate him politically.

He disclosed that enormous resources and energy were expended by Akpabio’s haters within and outside the party to stop his appointment as minister.

“Forget the public presentation by some of them.  They all seek audience with him (Akpabio) but behind they tell their followers ‘don’t mind that man, he is this and that, but I know that time will heal those things.

“I stand to be challenged or contradicted.  There was no APC before Akpabio joined the party.  There were so many pending cases in court against themselves. He ( Akpabio ) caused them to be withdrawn. Lawyers were paid off.

Those who were at loggerheads with each other were prevailed upon to embrace peace and that facilitated the emergence of ward and state executives of the party in the state.

“Akpabio sat down and held meetings with opposing groups within the party and resolved all the issues. He did all that with enormous cost and time,” he said.

Akpan, however, regretted that despite the efforts of the minister to unify the party, the APC in the state cannot be said to be united and formidable. 

“Even if they say that there are no factions in the party, there are tendencies. People have remained fixated with their primordial attachments.

“Today we will be living in self-denial if we say the APC is a completely fused and united fighting machine and until we subsume all our disparate interests, and work as a team and support whoever emerges in a fair process as a governorship candidate we cannot claim to have a party,” he explained.