THE Noble Youths Mass Support Association (NYMSA), Akwa Ibom Chapter



The National Chairman
Peoples Democratic Party
Wadata Plaza
Abuja

Sir,

OBA’s Corruption Charges and His Unsuitability for Akwa Ibom Hilltop Mansion

BACKGROUND.
According to Jon Huntsman Snr., an American multibillionaire and Chairman of the Huntsman Corporation, “there are no moral shortcuts in the game of business or life. There are, basically, three kinds of people, the unsuccessful, the temporarily successful, and those who become and remain successful. The difference is character.”

It is on the basis of this line of thought that Udom Emmanuel, the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, runs an integrity- driven administration in Akwa Ibom State, which as led to peace, prosperity and social cohesion among all the groups in the state.

This quantum leap which permeates the fabric of the Akwa Ibom society has to be sustained through a workable succession agenda, which the Governor has shown the way, after all, a leader, according to John Maxwell, “is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.”

Akwa Ibom people, therefore, are determined to resist attempts by an individual or group to truncate the regime of integrity, peace, tranquility and prosperity the state is currently enjoying. Herein lies the basis of our petition.

PETITION
Sir, we write in respect of Senator Bassey Albert, one of gubernatorial aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party, whose moral shortcut and deficit have engulfed him in several corruption charges, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and other anti- graft agencies, in recent times. Permit us to furnish you with more cogent facts and figures in this regard.

First, In May 2017, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission arrested detained Senator Bassey Albert Akpan on account of the cars he allegedly received as bribe from Jude Omokere, as Commissioner for Finance and Chairman of the State Inter-Ministerial Direct Labour Coordinating Committee. An event Akpan described as politically motivated, reports indicate that Omokore's companies, Bay Atlantic Energy and Sahel Energy received contracts from the Direct Labour Coordinating Committee and used the vehicles were used as a wimpish decoy to curry favor from Senator Bassey Albert Akpan.

Secondly, In June 2018, another lump of charges were filed against Senator Akpan for surreptitiously evading the routine declaration of his true assets. Investigations by the Special Presidential Investigation Panel on the Recovery of Public Property (SPIP) accused Akpan of concealing his assets and the true cost of his several houses and property.

Thirdly, Sir, the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) in August 2021, Akpan was used to orchestrate the bribery of federal legislators to guarantee the legislation's advancement despite significant public opposition to parts of the text. Several reports point to the fact that at least $10 million was paid to legislators through the instrumentality of Senator Akpan and the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Timipre Sylva. This was corroborated by several legislators who expressed misgivings over the sharing formula of the bribe, which they allegedly received $5,000 and $20,000 for representatives and Senators respectively.

OUR PLEA
Sir, permit us to make recourse to the thoughts of no mean a personage than Albert Einstein, a scientist and philosopher, that “whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.”
Taking Einstein’s postulate into cognizance, it is crystal clear that Senator Bassey Albert has an integrity deficit- which makes him unfit for public trust and responsibility. He would blow to the wind, the foundational principles of governance such as accountability, transparency and responsiveness, among others. This is predicated on the assumption of Peter Pulitzer, an Hungarian -American politician and newspaper publisher, “there is not a crime, there is not a dodge, there is not a trick, there is not a swindle, there is not a vice which does not live by secrecy.”

Finally, Sir, as the conscience of the people, we strongly appeal to the screening committee, for the disqualification of Senator Bassey Albert Akpan from gubernatorial race in Akwa Ibom State. This would serve as a moral litmus and ascertain the integrity of the Peoples Democratic Party, ably led by Dr Iyorchia Ayu, a man of high moral rectitude.

The disqualification of Senator Akpan will also serve the state from an impending security threat, which if not averted, might lead to the lose of lives land property- whose protection is the fundamental purpose of Government, the world over.

Thank you for patiently reading.

Yours faithfully,

Comrade Enefiok Okon
State secretary