We watched a video of what should at best pass for a beer parlour conversation, but tagged erroneously by the APC , as a press briefing. At the event, the acting Publicity Secretary and titular state chairman of the APC, Mr Ini Okopido was seen clearly enjoying a mud bath and spewing falsehood in its most crude form. He called the Governor clueless and went on to make many unsubstantiated allegations against the Governor, the State Publicity Secretary of the PDP and the PDP.

As tempting as it is to serve him a meal in his dirty plate, we will, as a party refrain from joining him in such ignoble venture, conscious of our promise to the world in May 2016, when this current executive took over the reins of our party. We had promised that we will not wrestle with pigs and in the words of Michelle Obama, “when they go low, we go high”. We will resist every attempt to take our focus off the all important governance discourse and topical socio-economic issues which are egalitarian in nature. The stock in trade of the opposition party in the state is to engage in pedestrian and nugatory verbal exchanges which are not the least beneficial to the citizenry.

However, for the purpose of record setting may we state as follows:

1. That the WhatsApp chats unintelligently referred to by Ini Okopido is manifestly fake and absolutely useless. The said piece is totally unhelpful to their cause. Even a cursory look at the said WhatsApp ‘leak’, will reveal numerous convincing reasons why no reasonable or intelligent person should take the material seriously. But clearly, Ini Okopido has shown the world that he is neither reasonable or intelligent and this is most pitiable. No such WhatsApp group exists(to our knowledge) and never has such imaginary instructions been issued by the State Publicity Secretary. Akwa Ibom people do not need any instigation to reject the APC. When they see what their evil political coven has turned our country into, in addition to the anti-people policies propagated by a party which values the life of cows above human lives.

2. The future assured combo is an English construction available in the lexicon for use by all, except where it has been limited by copyright assignment. There is no evidence of such copyright engagement as we speak. However, it must be stated that while the First Lady’s future assured programme is an organization, ours is a commitment and a focus to assure the future of every Akwa Ibom child. We are therefore not in breach of any law, except that promulgated by Ini Okopido and his intellectual misfits.

3. On the issue of the reactivation of Akwapalm industries, it is most unfortunate for Ini Okopido to allege that the setting up of the task force for the reactivation of the failed company was an execution of the manifesto of his party’s Governorship candidate. The industrialization drive has been the fulcrum of the current administration, which has been religiously pursued since her inception, using a two pronged approach of reactivation of failed industrial concerns and establishment of new industries. In the early days of his administration, the Governor reactivated Peacock paints and has gone on to attract countless industries to the state. This disposition is aptly captured in the five point agenda of the Governor, as published in 2014.

4. We will not be intimidated by petitions to security agencies by the opposition party in the state. We can announce very early that, their intimidation plans are Dead On Arrival. We will be available for investigation, when invited. We hope that the matter ends in court so that we can produce evidence that will help show the world the true character of the political jobbers that constitute the ‘broom party’. We hope that Mr. Okopido remembers that until recently, the police station was not his favourite visiting location, because of his role in the Rock city and concerned citizen imbroglio that led to the carnage that occurred in Ika local Government Area, many years ago.

5. We challenge Ini Okopido to a debate on governance issues and his party’s proposed solution. Let us engage in an intellectually enriching exercise, instead of this incongruent spasms, which has become Mr. Okopido’s hobby.

Finally, we urge Akwa Ibom people to discountenance the concoctions against the Governor and our party, by Ini Okopido. We should further forgive his ignorance and insolence in addressing the Governor as clueless(a word he cannot spell by heart)- this is one of the many signs of desperation exhibited by this group of drowning people.
Signed:

Comrade Ini Ememobong
State Publicity Secretary
People’s Democratic Party
Akwa Ibom state
15012019