Chieftains of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Akwa Ibom State have written to the President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, alleging a plot by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, the Minister of Petroleum (Gas), Rt. Hon. Ekperikpe Ekpo, and the state chairman of the party, Mr. Stephen Ntukekpo, to cede the party to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and Governor Umo Eno in the state.
In an open letter tagged “The Worrisome State of the APC in Akwa Ibom State: A Call for Your Urgent Intervention,” signed by Elder Okokon James, Hon. Peter Ibanga, and Chief Victor Affiah, representing Uyo, Eket, and Ikot Ekpene senatorial districts of the state on Monday, the elders urged the President to intervene and ensure that the party is resuscitated in Akwa Ibom.
The elders noted that they have been in the party from inception and had never seen the “kind of selfishness, greed, betrayal, and treachery” currently going on in the party in Akwa Ibom.
The letter, in part, states: “What the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, is doing to the teeming and die-hard members of the All Progressives Congress in Akwa Ibom State is the height of betrayal of confidence and treachery against the party on whose platform he became the Senate President. History and posterity will not be kind to him and all those he is using as instruments to kill the party.”
They noted that both the party chairman and the minister had, in different fora, said they were directed by the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, to cripple the party in the state to give the PDP an easy ride to victory in the 2027 polls in exchange for the PDP’s support for the Senate President’s third-term ambition.
They regretted that Senator Akpabio had failed to see clearly that Umo Eno would never defect to APC or be committed to President Tinubu’s second-term ambition.
They added: “We want to assure Mr. President that he won’t have party members to receive him when he comes to the state next year to campaign if something urgent is not done to revive and strengthen the party in the state.
“The soul and spirit of the party in the state have been sold to the PDP government, and as a result, party members are gearing up to join the upcoming coalition of opposition to your second-term ambition.”
The APC chieftains expressed reservations that a party that produced the Senate President and a minister is now dead in their state, reminding the President that if nothing is done urgently, it would be impossible to mobilize party members for him during the 2027 elections in the state.
“Should members of the party in the state move en masse to the upcoming coalition of opposition elements opposed to your second-term ambition, hold the Senate President and the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Rt. Hon. Ekperikpe Ekpo, responsible.
“The Senate President cannot cough because he has so weakened the APC structure in the state that he is afraid his re-election bid in 2027 may be a mirage without the support of the governor and PDP structures,” the letter added.
