*APC, Akpabio Planned Hijack of Protocol to Blackmail State Government*

The struggle for the soul of Akwa Ibom State come 2019 is becoming dirtier with a planned hijack of protocols by All Progressive Congress (APC) from the State government of the visit of the First Lady, Aisha Buhari to the State on Friday.

The office of the First Lady had written to the State Government informing it of her visit to the state and the government is said to have made adequate arrangements befitting of her status and office. Suddenly, former governor, Senator Godswill Akpabio is alleged to have taken his personal vehicles to the DSS office in Uyo preparatory to the visit of the wife of the president.

"We have been rightly informed of this plan by Senator Goodwill Akpabio to deliberately blackmail the State Government by bungling the protocols of this visit, embarrass the State Government by creating a climate of odium and despair and thereafter rejoice over such failure. We will resist that", a government house source said.

"The First Lady's Office wrote to inform us of her visit to the State and it's customarily and statutorily given that the State Government would provide all arrangements irrespective of what she is coming to the state to do, even if it's a private visit.

"It's even ironic that the Directorate of State Service, perhaps owing to inadequate briefing on acceptable protocols on such visits, has acceded to keeping vehicles from a private citizen or even a political party and other protocol breaches", he said.

"Whatever she is coming to do here (Uyo), she remains the guest of the State Government. We have informed Abuja accordingly. And she knows how it works that is why she rightly wrote to inform us that she will be coming to the State tomorrow (Friday).

"These people should know the limit of political grandstanding and separate rascality from established protocols", he said