PDP fingers APC over attack of 15 INEC buses in A/Ibom

Isaac Job, Uyo

The campaign team for the re-election of Governor Udom Emmanuel in Akwa Ibom state has alerted the international community and other civil right agencies on violence allegedly perpetrated by suspected thugs of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the killing of two persons and the burning of 15 buses hired by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ferry ad hoc staff for the postponed Presidential and National Assembly polls in the state In a statement issued in Uyo Sunday and signed by the Director of Communication of Divine Mandate, Atuekong Emmanuel Ibiok, the group condemned in strong terms the attack on INEC hired buses for the postponed elections and that on persons from Obot Akara council area where the two persons were killed. The group stated that the incident confirmed their earlier claims that the APC planned to truncate the smooth conduct of the polls and ignite crisis to justify their inordinate plans. “Let us sound it loud and clear that Obot Akara a PDP enclave, is home of the former deputy governor and senatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chris Ekpenyong, the commissioner for youth and sports, Monday Ebong Uko, as well as the Dean of the College of Personal Aides of the Governor, Elder Ufot Ebong among others. “This, in addition to the new roads and bridges built by the current administration of Udom Emmanuel to reconnect the area with other parts of the state, cement the area as a stronghold of the PDP,” the statement stated.
The group maintained that despite the repeated outcry against the threats to instigate violence by leaders of the opposition, no significant action has been seen to be taken against such threats. They cited the instance where the leader of the APC in Akwa Ibom state on three different occasions between August and September last year, threatened to unleash war in Akwa Ibom in a manner akin to the invasion of Poland by notorious German despot, Adolf Hitler. The Divine Mandate group confirmed that the APC caucus leader made those boasts in a church, the town square and at his residence respectively, and the video clips are still available. “The Divine Mandate Campaign Organization wishes to echo for the umpteenth time that election is not war, and as such every attempt by the All Progressives Congress and its so-called Warsaw agents to instigate crises in the state, is hereby hugely condemned,” it said.