2015 GUBER RACE: no more sacrifice

…I sacrificed Senate for Mrs. Esuene

… I have the structure - Same Akpan

 Bishop Samuel Akpan, the International Coordinator of a popular socio-political organization in Akwa Ibom State, Akwa Ibom People’s Forum (AKPF), the Akwa Ibom State Deputy Chairman of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and former member of the state Executive Council in Akpabio’s first term cabinet under the portfolio of Special Adviser, Bureau of political and Legislative Affairs

spoke recently extensively to media executives of his ambition to become the next governor of the State; explained why he wants to be the Governor; his sacrifice to the state and his party and other state and national issues.  Excerpts:

 

Question: We are aware that you want to run for the office of governor of the state. What is the peculiarity of the race to you?

Answer:          Every good thing that we proposed in 2010 is on course for governorship, it will accomplish in 2015. For me, you cannot become a governor when the processes of governance are not put in place. The governorship is too peculiar, too personal. The peculiarity of it is that it is for Eket Senatorial District and I am from Eket Senatorial District. Why it is personal is that I supported Chief Godswill Akpabio to become the governor of this State; and therefore, I want to run and I stand by it, I will be the next governor.

Question:  The argument right now is that right from the time of late Obong Akpan Isemin, people from all Senatorial Districts always come out to vie for that position……

Answer:           (cuts in) No, let me clear this issue. There is what we call, political direction. Fairly thinking, the direction during the Obong Akpan Isemin era was that Uyo should go for governor and unfortunately it was truncated by the coming of the military, so that raised sympathy for Uyo Senatorial District for Obong Attah to continue to accomplish that, that was political direction. So Uyo Senatorial District has taken their turn for ten (10) years and Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District is at the verge of completing theirs for eight (8) years. The next governor is coming to me because I come from Eket Senatorial District.

Question:        Don’t you subscribe to this school of thought that governorship race should be opened to every Akwa Ibom indigene?

Answer:          I am not concerned about what individual thinks. What I am concerned is the political direction which we all follow.

Question:        You are known to be a kingmaker, how come that you want now to be made?

Answer:           David was a kingmaker; you also understand that David was a servant of Saul. I became a servant of Chief Godswill Akpabio so I am the next governor of Akwa Ibom State.

Question:         Is there any fear?

Answer:          I am a member of the People’s Democratic Party for now. And it has been a practice in the principles of the Constitution of the Party that there is zoning and therefore, people that define zoning understand the practice.

Question:        With the usage of the word, “for now”, do you have any plan to defect from PDP to another party if, under assumption, you are denied the ticket?

Answer:          I don’t have any mind if my constitutional right is not infringed. My party is ideal, am not the governorship aspirant of PDP, am contesting the governorship of Akwa Ibom and I will contest this election as an Akwa Ibom son.

Question: Looking at zoning in the light of national politics. Don’t you think your party, the PDP will own up zoning in the state?

Answer:          The PDP has never owned up zoning. There was a politics of necessity that happened in Nigeria that a zoned President died which the office of a Vice President was still active and PDP as a party came in as a polity of necessity. Therefore that office should not be kept open. The Constitution provides for it, therefore, it was still zoned.

Question:        That of Speaker of the House of Representatives?

Answer:          The issue is that when you look at how issues are being done and you look at who can vote you. The Speaker went to the house even when it was not zoned to those areas that did not vote PDP. The PDP must have its cause and therefore that is how the Speaker corrected the impression of the PDP because you shouldn’t have people who did not have votes to preside over those that voted PDP.

Question:  Within Eket Senatorial District, Oron nation has vowed to rain down fire and brimstone if an Oron man is not a governor come2015. How could you address this?

Answer:          No, they would not. They could not have said so because the eight years of the former Senator was spent through Udo Udoma in Ikot Abasi and the eight years of the President Deputy Governor will spend at Ikot Abasi. There Ikot Abasi should have taken what it hoped to take at the Deputy Governorship. I don’t imagine any politically minded Oron man to have asked for fire and brimstone because the Senator is from Oron and you can imagine what am telling you. So if you want to write, look at the strength that this one is keeping the office of the Deputy Governor for eight years and while this one is keeping the  office of the Senator and the other is keeping the office of a Minister and so, is only me, am looking it as an individual.  I, Bishop Samuel Akpan have risen to be very concerned about the ambition.  I have laboured to have a structure and a people.  From the entire Eket Senatorial District, they are the people that gave Chief Akpabio a bloc vote that he won at the primaries in 2006.

Question:        It appears that there will be ward congresses, what is the situation like vis-à-vis changing the party structure and assuming the structure is changed, what are your chances of winning?

Answer:          I did not tell you that I want to be the governor of PDP but the governor of Akwa Ibom State.  The PDP which I a member at the moment will hold its primaries at the ward level on Saturday the 7^th of January, 2012 and I appreciate that we have a party programme that will span to February, 2015.  It is expected that the party by its concept and doctrine of continuity will continue to uphold that by extending the tenure arbitrary of the council members.  You can imagine that the members of the State executive Council are still serving.  Between the father and the child, who has more power?

Question:        There are some insinuations that the governor has anointed a particular aspirant for the race.  Are you the anointed one?

Answer:          I attended a meeting with the governor and he said, “I know you want to contest”, but it is too early to bring the governor into this.  It is all about the people of the state hearing about the ambition because it is not about an individual.  And therefore, if I am to tell the Press that I am a candidate of the governor then I have been too sure of becoming a governor.  I am a candidate of the people.

Question:        You aspired for the office of a Senator and you were asked to step down and you did.  How are we sure that you will not also step down this time when pressure comes?

Answer:          I was not asked to step down.  I called everybody to my village house and told them that I don’t want to run for the Senate again, I want Mrs. Esuene to run because she is older.  She said; please give me a chance and therefore nobody that would not respect her profile.  She is from this Senatorial District, she laboured too much and then I needed to respect her, she is a developer, she develops human beings.  I had to give that respect I should have given to her husband to the wife and I did not find anything funny in asking her to go and the power that I handed over to her is what is keeping her in the Senate.

Question:        Sometime ago you did mention of your sacrifice to the party.  Does it have anything to do with the Senate race?

Answer:          No. The Senate race was one of the sacrifices I had to make because I didn’t want to see her fail in that election, and I didn’t want to take her to the primaries  and realize that the wife of an Icon loose out.  I was persuaded to show that kind heartedness and respect to leadership and so that was a good sacrifice I had to make.  Though the Senate was very costly yet, I had to make that sacrifice but this time around, no more sacrifice.  I will not be persuaded by anybody any longer.  This is an issue of the interests of the Senatorial District because for me, I have also made a sacrifice for the peace of the Senatorial District; therefore if the Senatorial District has anything better to do for me, they should remember I have made a sacrifice.

Question:        It is a well known fact that you made the governor.  Apart from God, the Governor and yourself, who is playing the drum for you?

Answer:          You can play the drum by yourself for me to become the next governor of this state.

Question:        You claim to be the next Governor of the State.  How sure are you and what is the fate of AKPF as the International Coordinator?

Answer:          I am very sure because for the past one month, I was in a very strong prayer session and I prayed like that for Godswill Akpabio.  That same God that came to Godswilll Akpabio in Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District will also answer for me.  The AKPF (Akwa Ibom People’s Forum) is active; it has transcended all dimensions of Governance.  We were allowing the governor because he is the founder of AKPF. Therefore, I am allowing the structure of AKPF to enjoy the governance of government.

Question:        How prepared are you for the guber race spiritually, physically and financial and why do you want to be the governor of Akwa Ibom State?

Answer:          I don’t want to mortgage Akwa Ibom State by saying I am going to sell Akwa Ibom when you said, how prepared are you financially.  I am not mortgaging the state; the process of democracy indicates that even an African generational Parentage is now the President of America, some people think they have what it takes to buy Akwa Ibom.  I am convinced I am not alone, therefore I am prepared.  Why I want to be governor is not because I came from Eket Senatorial District but I feel Eket Senatorial District must become the governor and I am the man to become the Governor.  I also want to become the Governor because I will be very free-minded to be able to drive human capacity building.  I can see that the present leadership is now working on the infrastructural development and the next three years left for him will not be enough for him to concentrate on the human development that we are suffering from in this state and if we had lost out in infrastructural, we could have been deficient.  I have a lot of knowledge of many things that we do inside that I will be able to continue from the things done now and be able to ensure I am part of the people.  The people hold me responsible for the support base of the good governance that we have in Akwa Ibom State.  I shall also want him to be held responsible for the hand over note to me in Eket Senatorial District.

Question:        You sound so confident taking over the governance of the State, considering the issue of zoning; don’t you think you have a long way to go?

Answer:          No, the issue is that I will defeat anybody.

Question:        You lay claim of contributing to the resources of the state undermining the Oron federal Constituency…

Answer: (cuts in) The Oron Federal Constituency is also contributing to the state. Other local governments of Oron are also contributing. The indices available to you before 2006 are the indices that help you know how we made the last governor.  It will also help to know how you will have money to spend in the next governorship in the state.  Democracy in Akwa Ibom State have all agree that the resources that are put in the state are from oil revenue and therefore, Akwa Ibom being the second oil producing in Nigeria could not have been without Eket Senatorial District.  We do not internalize our presence on how much volume come from anywhere.  There is what we called the core oil communities that comprise Ibeno, Eket, Onna and Esit Eket and probably, Mkpat Enin, Eastern Obolo and Mbo about eight of them.  For now, the bulk of the core oil communities that are actually contributing to oil are the Eket federal Constituency.

Question:        More of your foot soldiers believe that you are not fairly treated by the government and as somebody who has staked many things to ensure that this governance emerged.  Are you fairly treated?

Answer:          Look at individual differences; I cannot speak for the rest.  I wanted to go to the Senate,  I was persuaded to have a rethink about Mrs. Esuene and therefore, if that was considered as ill treatment, so be it because I could have been a Senator but for giving respect, loyalty, sincerity and faithfulness.  I am the Deputy Chairman of the party, I know it is the responsibility of the party to look at who become the next governor.  It is to be zoned to Eket Senatorial District, I will be fairly treated.

Question:        If you emerge as the next governor of the state what will be a-must-do-project of your government?

Answer:          What touches me all the time and am sure the governor will attempt this within this last 3years and the heat that will happen in politics will also cause the attention.  What will really touch my heart is that I want God to take hold of Akwa Ibom and make us as one body of people irrespective of Oron, Ibibio or Annang.  We don’t have a good representation and image now in the Federal level and Federal presence is completely masqueraded by people that are now confronting the leadership of government and that as a  matter of fact, we  shall bring the people together to speak with one voice and when we are speaking with one voice, the respect and sound standing coupled with the argument of Niger Delta.  We are the largest tribe in Niger Delta yet we are next to nothing.  So the first thing I will do will be to bring Akwa Ibom State together.  Second thing in my heart is that, when the Akwa Ibom State University opened  in Ikot Akpaden in Mkpat Enin something touched me that the students when they finish school, they left school in anguish, some  of them have laboured to find what to do, it is my conviction to prefer solutions to it, I want to see how our unemployed people go back to work and there should  be a guaranteed equality and fairness to the right of the society, we have lost the quality of life completely, criminality has been in the highest.  If we don’t touch those areas, God will not come down to resolve if we don’t resolve them.  One more thing is that we shall hold people responsible for the ill-advice and ill-motivation of not becoming responsible for our people being given a fair treatment. Some, who build houses from all sides of the road, build mansions everywhere.  That is my displeasure, watch out for these things.

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